PHILIPPIANS 3:8–12 – “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count 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 that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”
THEME OF THE DAY: IT’S ALL ABOUT THE LORD JESUS. The following story captures the whole of the Christian life and gives an echo to today’s scripture.
Dr. S. D. Gordon was a 19th century preacher whom the Lord used mightily through his preaching and writing. He tells of an old Christian woman whose age began to tell on her memory. She had once known much of the Bible by heart. Eventually only one precious bit stayed with her. It was 2 Timothy 1:12 – “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I committed unto him against that day”.
By and by part of that verse slipped its hold, and she would quietly repeat, “That which I have committed unto him.” At last, as she hovered on the borderline between this and the spirit world, her loved ones noticed her lips moving. They bent down to see if she needed anything. She was repeating over and over again to herself the one word of the text, “Him, Him, Him.” She had lost the whole Bible, but one word. But she had the whole Bible in that one word.
Combining the story and the testimony of the Apostle Paul in today’s scripture, we may rightly summarize what it means to be a Christian; a person consumed with the Lord Jesus Christ. We may expand that to say that a Christian thinks often of Christ, sets his or her affection on Christ, orients all of life toward Christ, lives by the priorities and commands of Christ, longs to be like Christ, yearns with passion to see Christ, labors hard to share Christ, serves with zeal the cause of Christ, loves earnestly the people of Christ, and simply wants nothing more in life than to know Him, make Him known, and see Him glorified in all things.
Now let’s make one application. Would our current spiritual conditions produce testimonies which could be lined up beside the testimonies for Christ of the Apostle Paul and the elderly Christian lady? Think about it. Slowly and seriously. After all, that is what truly defines a Christian.
PRAYER: Father, may I never lose the simplicity of having my life centered and consumed with Your Son.
REFLECTION: The Christian life is about Jesus; to know Him, love Him, serve Him, and be conformed to Him.