Philippians 3:7–11 (NKJV) — 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 Daily Devotion this morning is a simple question. What are you willing to
lose, to give up in order to “gain Christ?”
Beware of anything that would cause you to take your focus off Jesus. The
focus of the Christian is Jesus. Whatever is not leading a person to a closer
walk with Jesus is moving one away from Him. There is no neutrality in the
Christian life.
What are the distractions to living the Christian life?
- Money…not just money but the love of money that would keep one
from a true relationship with Christ. Who or what do you trust: God or
Money - Media…Internet, TV, Movies, Music. Does the media glorify Christ or
lead one away from Him? (Not all media is bad.) - Relationships…Do we come into relationship with someone who leads
us away from Christ? It is good to know people and be able to witness
to others, but we can also allow others to pull us away from Christ. - Routine…do we allow the mundane regular everyday life keep us from
serving Jesus? Even our worship of Christ can become commonplace.
The list could go on and on.
Paul knew this and we too should bear in mind that in the end, the only
thing in this life that matters is Christ. Our life on earth is just a blink of an
eye in comparison to eternity. Paul also realized that even in the persecution
of this world, life in Christ far exceeds anything this world has to offer.
I love verse 10 where Paul says, “THAT I MAY KNOW HIM AND THE
POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS
SUFFERINGS, BEING CONFORMED TO HIS DEATH.”
If Christ is not glorified in what we do, we should not do it. Life is all about
Him. We are not the King of the hill…He is!