Philippians 3:10–16
King James Version
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, 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
New American Standard Bible 1995
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 3:13–14
English Standard Version
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. 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 3:13–14
It happens almost every time a new Restarter joins us. The milk jugs need washing, the bar needs wiping down, the next order is waiting — and the phone comes out. Thumb on the screen, scrolling Instagram, looking for something, anything, that feels better than the moment in front of them. They cannot stay present with the mundane. They need to escape.
I do not judge it, because I know it. For years I was the boy who thought he ruled the world, and I spent most of my life running from the ordinary — chasing the next high, the next thrill, the next distraction that would quiet whatever was going on inside. Escape is what a heart does when it has nothing worth staying for.
So my job at the café is not mainly to confiscate phones. It is to give them something worth turning towards. A task they can finish. A challenge just big enough to stretch them. A teammate who needs their help, so they discover they are needed. Slowly, a community forms around them, and the scrolling loosens its grip. Not because we shouted, but because they finally had a direction.
Paul knew the power of a clear goal. His was not a bigger business, a better reputation or an easier life. “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection,” he wrote (Philippians 3:10, ESV). Everything else was rubbish next to that. And Paul did not pretend he had arrived. He was a man with a past far worse than scrolling — he had hunted down Christians — and yet he chose to forget what lay behind and strain towards what lay ahead.
That is the gospel I bring into the café, and every Friday into our café fellowship devotion. Your past does not get the final word. Your phone does not have to be your refuge. There is a goal worth pressing towards, and it is a Person.
I still drift. Some mornings I reach for distraction before I reach for Him. But Paul’s quiet instruction holds me steady: hold true to what we have already attained (v. 16). I do not need to be finished. I need only to keep my face turned towards Christ, one task, one day, one step at a time.
What are you running from today? And what might it look like to turn and run towards Him instead?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I confess how quickly I look for escape instead of looking for You. Thank You that my past does not define me. Teach me to know You, to stay present in the ordinary work You give me, and to help others press on beside me. Be the goal of my every day. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” — Hebrews 12:2 (KJV)
The Caffeine Experience · Brewing Coffee & Second Chances
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