FORWARD

I had the opportunity about 2 weeks ago to attend youth camp as a youth leader. The last time I ever participated at youth camp was 6 years ago, and I went as a student. So, this was the first time in a long time. It was 3 days, and because of the pandemic, it ended up being held at First Baptist Church. A good number of students came from different churches, and it was a BLAST!! I was utterly blessed by it, and I developed deeper relationships with some of the students from our church and then met new people.

The theme of the camp was "FORWARD." The verse that was constantly quoted was Hebrews 12:1-2, which says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne." (NLT)

We have a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith. We have angels in heaven cheering us on, rooting for us to keep going and keep pushing forward. We have to keep looking forward and not look back, especially when we get tripped up by temptation or pull ourselves away from God. As hard as it may be, we have to keep our eyes on Jesus because, in the end, there is JOY. Jesus experienced joy at the end of his suffering because he was seated in the place of honor beside God. Even when we don't know which way to go, going forward is the best thing we can do for ourselves. Even when life hits us hard and leaves us on our knees, we learn to shake it off and get back up again. We have to learn how to move forward to bigger and greater things.

That was one thing that stuck with me… is keep moving FORWARD. God has already gone before you, now all you have to do is follow. How will you move FORWARD today?