July 4, 2024 BUT ONE THING I DO
Philippians 3:8-10 “More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, and not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which I was also laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 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.”
This is a rather long section of scripture; and we could spend much time digging into what Paul is saying in this passage; perhaps we can glean a couple of super important truths. First, to Paul, there was nothing more important that knowing Christ; Paul’s counted all things as lost compared to knowing Christ. And he did lose everything. This begs the question: is our pursuit of knowing Christ a casual pursuit or is it on the front burner of our life. To pursue Christ with all of our heart does not necessarily mean that we will lose everything as Paul did; but it does mean that things will not have a grip on us; we see them as being lesser-than knowing Christ. To truly know Christ, we must die to ourselves that He might live in us, and we in Him. But whether we lose everything or not, we realize that there is no greater gain than knowing Christ. For sure, gaining Christ is well worth the cost. The other point we must see is that Paul saw himself on a journey; his pursuit of gaining Christ was on-going; he did not see himself as halving arrived. A crucial thing Paul did, and a crucial thing for us to do is to forget what lies behind-successes and failures, and look to what lies ahead. It is good to have good memories, but they are just that- memories. Many struggle at living in the present because they look back with regret over the past; the past robs them of the present. Likewise, we can gloat over and relish the pass and think about all our successes, and miss the present. The point is, let us look forward and stay on the path of pursuing Christ and walking in His purpose for us. Christ is in us, but there is more to learn of Him and more to experience in Him. If Paul had not arrived, neither have we.
2 Peter 3:17 “but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Blessings, Buddy
Philippians 3:8-10 “More than that, I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, and not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which I was also laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 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.”
This is a rather long section of scripture; and we could spend much time digging into what Paul is saying in this passage; perhaps we can glean a couple of super important truths. First, to Paul, there was nothing more important that knowing Christ; Paul’s counted all things as lost compared to knowing Christ. And he did lose everything. This begs the question: is our pursuit of knowing Christ a casual pursuit or is it on the front burner of our life. To pursue Christ with all of our heart does not necessarily mean that we will lose everything as Paul did; but it does mean that things will not have a grip on us; we see them as being lesser-than knowing Christ. To truly know Christ, we must die to ourselves that He might live in us, and we in Him. But whether we lose everything or not, we realize that there is no greater gain than knowing Christ. For sure, gaining Christ is well worth the cost. The other point we must see is that Paul saw himself on a journey; his pursuit of gaining Christ was on-going; he did not see himself as halving arrived. A crucial thing Paul did, and a crucial thing for us to do is to forget what lies behind-successes and failures, and look to what lies ahead. It is good to have good memories, but they are just that- memories. Many struggle at living in the present because they look back with regret over the past; the past robs them of the present. Likewise, we can gloat over and relish the pass and think about all our successes, and miss the present. The point is, let us look forward and stay on the path of pursuing Christ and walking in His purpose for us. Christ is in us, but there is more to learn of Him and more to experience in Him. If Paul had not arrived, neither have we.
2 Peter 3:17 “but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Blessings, Buddy
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