Philippians 3:7–11 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted
loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of
all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found
in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that
which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by
faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and
the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if,
by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
The thing to remember is Jesus is God. He is Sovereign, the Supreme ruler.
He sits upon the throne of God. We need to be mindful that life is all about
Him. There is no life without Christ.
Jesus is God Himself who rules and reigns over the universe.
The Apostle Paul gave up everything to follow Christ. He says in verse 8, “…I
have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may
gain Christ.” He knew his righteousness was nothing in comparison to Christ.
Paul gave himself totally to Christ. Whatever riches, power, popularity, or
education he had was nothing. He wanted to know Christ. Not just
intellectual knowledge. Paul wanted to know Christ intimately. He wanted to
know the power of Christ’s resurrection. Paul wanted to know the fellowship
of His sufferings. Paul did not take his salvation, his relationship with Christ
for granted. He lived his life for Christ. He trusted Christ. His heart was
focused on Christ.
Verse 10 is a powerful verse defining Paul’s commitment to Jesus and his
desire to follow Christ and intimately know Him.
Paul wrote about how important his relationship with Christ was. He knew he
was not perfect but even in his imperfection, he pressed on. In verse 12 he
said “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press
on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of
me. Paul continued seeking and following Christ no matter what was
happening in his life.
We too must not allow anything to deter us from not just following Christ but
being totally committed to Him.