Dear Faith Family, 

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 3:13b-14). 

The sign reads: 

           WARNING!! 

 CHEESE ROLLING IS A 

 DANGEROUS ACTIVITY 

   FOR PARTICIPANTS 

   AND SPECTATORS! 

Who knew?!  Apparently, thousands of spectators along with dozens of contestants knew.  Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire (Has to be the home of the Worcestershire sauce?  Ok, maybe not.  Different shire.), England is the magnet where brains of steel gather to descend in severely rapid fashion.  Once a year competitors run, trip, fall, flip, slide, bounce, or otherwise traverse nearly two-hundred yards down the 26.6-degree decline – and I do mean decline (from my observation, the physical condition of the contestants does decline with each passing yard). 

Why, you might ask, would people risk life and limb on such a fast-paced, perilous journey?  Ah, you might have guessed.  There is a prize at the end of the race.  Like dogs chasing the mechanical hare these competitors run, trip, fall, flip, slide, bounce, or otherwise traverse the ground in hopes of claiming the just-out-of-reach circle of cheese.  You read that right!  A wheel of Double Gloucester cheese weighing in at somewhere around eight pounds.  Now that’s definitely worth the risk!  And if that’s not enough – think about the pictures (feet in the air, arms twisted like pretzels, mouth wide open)! 

And then there’s Paul.  Straining forward.  Pressing on.  That man was running downhill with reckless abandon.  With eyes on the prize, Paul refused to live in the what was.  He was living for the what would be.  His eyes were focused on His Lord and the call of Jesus on his life.  He lived his life as though the resurrection of Jesus really did happen.  His life was set on a trajectory.  The objective?  Jesus!  In other words, Paul was stiving to live up to his calling in Christ Jesus. 

So, here’s the personal part.  What’s the trajectory of your life?  Are you living for an “eight-pound circle of cheese”?  Are you living in the what could have been?  What should have been?  Are you bound up in self-redemption?  You know, trying to make up for your past failures?  Are you attempting to overcome the past with your present performance? 

Have you lost sight of your Savior? 

With eyes on the Prize, 

Pastor Karl