Close The Gate

Do not fear, . . . for you will forget the shame of your youth. (Isa.  54:4)

Two men walking down a country road decided to take a shortcut home.  they   passed through a field where a number of cattle were grazing. Deeply   engrossed in conversation, they forgot to shut the gate behind them.  A  few minutes later one of them noticed the oversight and ran back to close  the gate.  As he did, he remembered the last words of an old friend who  summoned all his children to his bedside and gave them this wise counsel:  "As you travel down life's pathway, remember to close the gates behind  you."

The man knew that problems, difficult situations, heartbreaks, and  failures were inevitable, but he wanted his children to know that they  didn't have to allow those things to follow them through life.

This is especially true of believers.  Once we have confessed sin and have done what we can to right the wrong, we must put the incident behind us.

The apostle Paul told us to forget the things of the past and reach  forward to those things which are ahead.  Then we will be better able to  "press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ  Jesus" (Phil. 3:14).

When it comes to the failures of the past, we can always close the gate behind us.

My heart has no desire to stay Where doubts arise and fears dismay: Though some may dwell where these abound, My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.