Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, May 14, 2026
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
There are lots of ways to interpret “what lies ahead” here. I’m sure a lot of modern evangelical Christians read it as the eschatological promise of Christ’s return to fix everything and punish the non-believers whose “god is their belly…their minds are set on earthly things.” (3:19) But frankly, a great many modern Christians are the ones whose gods are their bellies and whose minds are set on earthly things like the accumulation of wealth, outdated notions of purity and exclusion, and a false comfort in being “saved” through having said a few magic words.
In my interpretation, “what lies ahead” is a life with, in, and through Jesus Christ in the here and now. What lies ahead is freedom from our past shames, hurts, humiliations, and traumas (as best as this is possible) and a sure conviction that Jesus is with us, sharing our place, calling us into the sacred work of facilitating the inbreaking of the Reign of God in our communities and all creation. In spite of all the evidence of humanity having its mind set on earthly things, its insatiable cravings for material satisfactions being its god, we can press on toward the goal and know that we are not alone. Our citizenship may be in heaven, but heaven is here. Now. Not in some distant unrealized future we can only get to when we’re dead. Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly. To me, that doesn’t happen when we’re dead. It happens in the midst of our embodied journey on this incredible planet. So, in the words of Paul, “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.” (4:1)
Where do I see Jesus alive in the here and now? How do I respond when I see him?
