To enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ may mean a loss of previous status, position, employment, or reputation. Paul, upon surrounding to Jesus, lost all of those things, but found something much more valuable, life in abundance; a life lived in righteousness. I read recently of a pop singer in England, who in the 1980's, in March, recorded his first and biggest (and maybe only) hit. By August, he had one million dollars in the bank. He was a married man, and upon receiving their first child, he walked away from the fame and future earnings of his career, to be a better husband and father to his child. Much in the same way, we, when we find in Christ Jesus, the perspective of righteousness, all things of earth pale to the brightness of a life lived in Christ. We, like Paul, will want to know more and receive more of that which blesses our relationship with God. Paul writes, "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in this death, and somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (3:10-11).
We should press on looking forward to what we can be and do, for the good of God's work here on the earth. We too, seek to win the prize for which God called us in this life as believers. God will make clear our path through prayer and worship, as we join in following the example of Jesus.
PHIL-ME-UP PRAYER: Loving God, I do not want to live as one of your enemies, for those who are opposed to You will find only destruction. I seek not to serve a god based on my stomach, nor seek shame. I seek to glorify You and to become a better citizen of Heaven, for I eagerly await Your return, standing firm in You. Let me be a friend to all who seek Jesus. This I pray in Christ Jesus my Lord, amen.
