What is Truly Priceless?

Philippians 3:1-21

1 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

WOW! Can this chapter get any better? This chapter has it all. It has rejoicing in the Lord, watching out for imposters, worshipping in the Spirit, relying on Jesus, being zealous for Him, infinite value of knowing Christ, faith in Christ, experiencing mighty power, sharing in His death, pressing on to perfection, focusing on His plan, forgetting the past, looking forward, receiving the heavenly prize, agreeing with others, progressing in His plan, learning from others and eagerly waiting for Christ's return.

I would have to say that this covers quite a bit of our spiritual journey here on earth. We should always be rejoicing in the Jesus did for us. Because of what He did for us we can also see and watch for those who do evil in the guise of doing work for the Lord. By worshipping in the Spirit and relying on what Jesus did for us on the cross we put no confidence on what we can do as humans. We can be as zealous for the Lord as Paul once was to destroy the Christians. We can learn from his example of what not to do and realize that everything outside of truly knowing Christ is worthless.

We learn that we are righteous in God's eyes by what Christ Jesus did for us and know that it wasn't anything we did outside of faith. When we truly experience the power of the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead we also don't mind sharing in His suffering or His death. We will experience the resurrection of the dead and will rejoice in that. We can also press on to possess the perfection of the example of Christ Jesus and His life here on earth. We can be like God and forget the past and look forward. When we confess our sins they are no more in our remembrance and we will reach the end of the race and receive our prize in heaven. Thank You Jesus! We will agree with other spiritually mature Christians and will hold our ground on the progress we each make in the Spirit. We will learn from others by not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together and we can eagerly wait for Jesus return. Praise God forever!

Heavenly Father I thank You that You have so cared for me to have sent Your Son to earth to live as a man and to show a perfect example of how it can be done. I thank You that His obedience unto death bought the redemption for my sin and separation from You. I praise You that You do not remember my sins when they are confessed to You and that You see me as righteous, not because of what I have done but because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. I thank You that You first loved me and cared enough for me to provide the right training and growth at the right time to get me to where I am today. I thank You that You are not done with me and my influence here on earth. I will continue to press toward the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus and will share Him with anyone You ask me to. Amen.

Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)

The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you; The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you; The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).

Published by Erik L. Vakula
Daily Bread From the Word
Copyright © 2009 Erik Vakula, All Rights Reserved