Monday Devotion - 31st August 2020
Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:4-9
4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 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 9 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—
Every person has a story to tell.
Whatever book shop you walk into, no doubt it will have an autobiography section. Autobiographies are one of the most popular genres for the simple reason that we all love hearing stories about people and their lives. More than that, most of us love following the lives of certain people, whether that be sports stars, musicians, actors, comedians or politicians. Hence why social media has exploded over the past decade.
Every person has a story to tell.
However, for the Christian, we could slightly alter that a fraction — every Christian has a testimony to tell.
Whether that is a dramatic or unassuming testimony, every follower of Christ has a story of how they were converted. Each will be unique, some will be more fascinating than others, but they all revolve around one central factor. At one point, their life changed whenever they repented of their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Within this next section of Philippians, we have the Apostle Paul’s personal testimony and he certainly packs a punch with what he has to say.
We have to remind ourselves with what Paul is currently talking about before we jump headfirst into analysing each aspect of his testimony. In our last devotion, we had thought about how Paul was rebuking the Judaizers who were a group that were infiltrating the Philippian Christians. They were promoting that circumcision was a necessary element for a person to be saved. Paul condemns them for putting their confidence in the flesh.
As a way to counteract their false teaching, Paul lays before the Philippians his testimony as firm evidence against this erroneous teaching.
Each and every conversion story has two parts to it; the first part is what life was before Christ and the second part is how Christ became an individual’s Lord and saviour and subsequently changed their life.
We read about the before part for Paul in verses 4-6. And without getting into the specifics of each facet, Paul is making one overall point. He wants to say that he had it all, and it still wasn’t enough.
He was ticking all of the religious boxes, he was the crème de la crème. Whatever viewpoint you take, whether it was his birth, nationality, education or morality he was top of the class. If there was ever a man who could have earned his way to heaven on the basis of merit, it was the Apostle Paul.
Many, many people would have marvelled and revered Paul in his previous life. But how does he summarise his pre-Christ life?
He counts it as loss (v.7 + 8) and as rubbish (v.8). All of his good works. All of his religious efforts and status now have as much value and worth as the contents of a landfill site.
It is shocking and provocative words that are meant to grab our attention and emphasise a very real and serious point. For Paul, nothing on this earth even remotely compares to knowing Jesus Christ. Everything and he means everything fades into insignificance whenever it is compared to the glorious blessing of knowing Christ as Lord and saviour.
Christ has utterly transformed the Apostle’s life. Nothing has been the same, and he desperately wants the Philippians to know that. He is eager that they would put their confidence, not in the flesh, but in Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul appeared to have everything going for him, but he was missing one thing. His life was void of one crucial piece; an intimate and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Do you sense of sheer joy Paul had for the simple fact that he knows Christ?
I wonder do you think about the difference between your life since you put your faith in Christ?
How easy is it for us to get complacent and fall into a spiritual rut, where we fail to marvel at this fact; God, through his Spirit has opened your blind eyes and has breathed into you new life. As a Christian, you literally have a personal relationship with God. Consider that reality for a moment and true joy will fill your life.