Philippians 3:7-11 (The Message) The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness. I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
I love the way "The Message" has been worded for this particular scripture. Paul was explaining very explicitly that the things that he had once treasured no longer held any value. He had been through so much over the course of his life that he came to realize that everything he thought was important did not compare to having the privilege of knowing His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, he said that he considered it all garbage. When we think of garbage, we think of waste, smelly, stinky, filth which we literally plug our noses to get away from. That word picture speaks volumes to me especially when our grandchildren come to visit and we have bags of dirty diapers to dispose of. All he had once gained was rubbish to him compared to his new found relationship with Jesus Christ.
Consider this thought with me. Our land fills in America are becoming so full that experts are trying to figure out where we will put our garbage in the future. I would like to venture to say that the wrong things are being dumped into the garbage. Instead of old magazines, empty containers, and broken furniture we need to be throwing away valuable things, those things that keep us from Christ. For each of us it might mean something different but ultimately anything that keeps us from Christ should be labeled TRASH.
Paul listed earlier all the accomplishments that he had once valued, his heritage, his education, his prestige, his fame and everything else he took credit for. Yet, now he realizes that it was all for naught and produced a synthetic righteousness that he wanted no part of. His heart yearned to intimately know the Lord, to experience the same power that raised Jesus form the dead and join in His sufferings. In essence, Paul was totally surrendered to Jesus and had a willingness to accept any and everything that God allowed into His life that would further the Kingdom. He was, as they say, "ALL IN" and he wanted the Philippians to follow His example.
Is there anything in your life that is interfering with your relationship with Jesus Christ? Remember the tragedy of the rich young ruler. He wanted to follow Jesus but was not willing to give up his riches to do so. He totally missed an opportunity of a life time! He had no idea what he would have gained by letting go and letting Jesus in. What keeps you from jumping "ALL INTO" a relationship with the one who can offer an abundant fulfilling life?
_______________________________________
Dear Lord,
You are the creator of the universe. You are all powerful and all knowing and we love you for that. Please bring the hidden things to light in our lives, those things that interfere with our relationship with you, so we can deal with them and put them to death. Give us a yearning like Paul had to surrender everything to You. Show us how we can live for Your Kingdom purposes and put the things of the world behind us. We want to be "ALL IN", so if there is something holding us back, we pray that You would empower us to set it aside and let go. Free us to follow You wholeheartedly.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
#trash #garbage #waste #rubbish #relationshipwithJesusChrist #throwingawayvaluablethings #keepusfromChrist #accomplishments #heritage #education #prestige #fame #syntheticrighteousness #intimately #AllIn #surrenderedtoJesus #surrendered #richyoungruler #notwillingtogiveup #riches #missedopportunity #lettinggo #abundantfulfillinglife #allpowerful #allknowing #hiddenthingstolight #Kingdompurposes #emowerus #freeus #followyou #follow