"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- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection , and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain resurrection from the dead. "
-Philippians 3:8-11
Imagine yourself stripped of everything, all that you owned, all that you loved, the people, the awards, the honour, the house that you lived in, the car that you own, the branded suit that you wear.
Imagine one day, everything is taken away from you, and you're left with nothing. Who would you still be? Would you still be giving all glory to God? Would you still be praising Him?
That's a tough question, I would love to answer that I'll still be praising God for my life, still be giving glory to Him, still be happy and joyful for that fact that I still have Christ. I would love to answer that way, but, it's easy to say it, when you're not experiencing it. If it really was to happen, honestly, I don't know what I'm going to react towards it.
For Paul, in the passage above, he counts everything loss and count them as rubbish because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus. That would be saying that, everything you owned now, you'll be willing to throw it all away, considered as rubbish. Worthless. Imagine just throwing away all your hard-earned degrees, burning them away, or giving up your house, your wealth, all of it, because its not worth anything to you, compared to knowing Christ.
If anyone were to do that now, I would probably think that they're insane! But I admired Paul's conviction and faith, maybe even a little jealous of it. He counts everything as rubbish, so that he may gain Christ, to be found in Christ, to have the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ, to know Christ, to know the power of Christ's resurrection, to share Christ's sufferings, to become like Christ in His death, and to attain resurrection from the dead.
Paul had saw that everything was nothing to him, because he had found Christ, he had found the one who saves, the one who forgives, the one whom had shown grace and mercy to him.
Because of the fact that we have everything now, truly, we ave nothing at all. We think that we have a comfortable life, that we have everything, but we don't. we have nothing. But the one who has Christ, he have everything though he owns nothing.
I can't imagine taking my bunch of certificates and burning them, I can't because even though God deserve all glory through my achievements, a little part of me still feels like, it was all my effort. And that shouldn't be the way, because without Christ, heck, I wouldn't even be alive to be having these certificates. Without God's grace and mercy upon my life, I'll probably be squashed like an ant by God because of my sinful nature. It's easier to say all these, then to be firmly convicted by these facts. I know what I'm suppose to feel, but yet, sometimes, I just feel so.. distant.
I want to know You, Lord. I want to know about Your amazing grace. To choose You, at an instant, instead of choosing the World. To know that everything I thought was a gain to be, that it was just, rubbish. To trust You during my difficulties, praising You in both my ups and downs moments. To know that precious treasure that saved my soul. But according to Your will, not mine. Your timing, not mine.
Hannah
