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Every now and then I think about the past. On second thought, maybe I think about it more frequently than every now and then. Maybe I think about it too much! At any rate, it is good to consider how often we indulge ourselves in journeys into the past and what real benefit results from those excursions (or for that matter, what harm might come from them). From this balancing act comes the title and implied questions about looking back – A Little Then and Now is OK Now and Then. Think with me!

Lot's wife looked back against God's instructions and she was turned to a pillar of salt (Genesis 17.15-26). Paul stated that he busied himself “...forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3.13-14). However, the fact that these biblical accounts seem to forbid backward glances must not be taken to the extreme. The same man who forgot some things in the past also remembered well the things of the past which he gave up to become a disciple of Jesus Christ (see Philippians 3.4-8). So, when is it OK to think about the Then and the Now? Is it OK to think about it now and then? How much is too much?

First, there are no black and white answers to these questions, answers that can be put into a discrete quantity of hours, minutes, or seconds. Like many of God's directions, He expects us to consider how we use our time and to use it wisely. As Paul put it on one occasion, we should, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.” (Colossians 4.5). Time is a premium and we have no control over how much of it we have, only how we use it! However, the fact that God did not set down some numbers in stone does not mean that He has no preference in the matters; it just means that He expects us to “police” our own actions and to correct them where there is a need to.

There are three “then and now” passages that I wish us to consider in this four part miniseries. We can use this study a means to improve the way we use our time in remembering, and to ensure that it is healthy remembering in which we traffic. Consider the first of these passages. “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.” (Romans 6.21). The entire sixth chapter of Romans is a “then and now” chapter. Some things are worth remembering, if for no other reason than to see progress. How else can we see how far we've come but by looking back a bit? The spiritual progress of Paul's readers in Romans was evident and no one knew it better than they knew it themselves if they would but take the time to think. Their present activities were far and away better than their former ones. What they had done before as a matter of course had produced no fruit of any real significance; what they were doing now (as Paul wrote) was of great and eternal significance.

Lesson One: Look back to see progress and to make a fresh resolve to keep on keeping on! The good old days were not all that good in most cases; the change in affections and lifestyle demonstrates that fact. Like Paul, our remembering ought to help clarify our objectives and to see just why it is that we decided to follow the Lord in the first place! When we use the past to improve the future, Then and Now thinking is a great exercise!

Questions:

1. When Paul forgot the things of the past (Philippians 3), did he literally forget or did he just devalue them?

2. How did the believers at Rome benefit from considering the past?

3. What legitimate use can we make of remembering? What does remembering have to do with progress?

4. “When we use the past to __________ the future, Then and Now thinking is a great exercise.”

"Inspiration For You" from Randy Mitchell

Watching Your Dollars Fly Away