I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Ver. 14. I press toward, &c.] The ark of the covenant was but a cubit and a half high; so were likewise the wheels of the caldron. Now we know that a cubit and a half is but an imperfect measure, which shows (saith one) that no man in this life is perfectly perfect. Let us strive to perfection, as Paul did; and then, Summum culmen affectantes, satis honesti vel in secundo fastigio conspiciemur. A man may fully fall in with the most forward followers of Jesus Christ, and yet fall short of perfection. It is with Christians (saith Columel well) as with Jonathan's signal arrows, two fell short, and but one beyond the mark; so where one shoots home to the mark of the high calling in Christ, many fail to attain to it.