Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained. (Philippians 3:7-16, NRSV)
Paul tells the Philippians that everything that he could count on or count as something is nothing. It ia all lost because of what he now has in Christ.
And he says this not to boast, as if he has already gotten it, but he reminds them we are all racing…
And if you have ever run a race, you hit that point where you want to give up.
You want to give in.
You can’t go any further…
You have given it all…
And yet if you press on, and just keep going you will get over that.
You will finish the race!
You see we will all finish the race!
Hold fast to the faith and grace you have been given knowing that the goal will be a wonderful thing, not because we earned it, but because He allowed us to attain it. Press on!
aSacredRebel 