May the mumbling commence!
Time to change ambitions! Time to align our ambitions with Christ! What drives the world can no longer drive me. Read from Philippians chapter three:
If it were right to have such confidence, I could certainly have it, and if any of these men thinks he has grounds for such confidence I can assure him I have more. I was born a true Jew, I was circumcised on the eighth day, I was a member of the tribe of Benjamin, I was in fact a full-blooded Jew. As far as keeping the Law is concerned I was a Pharisee, and you can judge my enthusiasm for the Jewish faith by my active persecution of the Church. As far as the Law's righteousness is concerned, I don't think anyone could have found fault with me.
Yet every advantage that I had gained I considered lost for Christ's sake. Yes, and I look upon everything as loss compared with the overwhelming gain of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. For his sake I did in actual fact suffer the loss of everything, but I considered it useless rubbish compared with being able to win Christ. For now my place is in him, and I am not dependent upon any of the self-achieved righteousness of the Law. God has given me that genuine righteousness which comes from faith in Christ. How changed are my ambitions! Now I long to know Christ and the power shown by his resurrection: now I long to share his sufferings, even to die as he died, so that I may perhaps attain as he did, the resurrection from the dead.
Yet, my brothers, I do not consider myself to have "arrived", spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped me. My brothers, I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now. But I do concentrate on this: I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal – my reward the honor of being called by God in Christ. (Verses 4-14)
Are you a confidence man or woman? Do you feel like you need to prove yourself over and over again? That is just the way that Satan would like it. Don’t believe the lie that our confidence or self-esteem is based upon our achievements in light of the achievements of those people around us.
That kind of a contest is a lose-lose scenario. It is designed to divide. It is designed to make us lonely. And it works in a cruel heartless way.
Paul could boast along with the best. He could back it up, too. Yet, when he came to know Christ, he recognized those things and that path and those ambitions as rubbish.
Time to take out the rubbish of this world and her ambitions! Jesus, the great rubbish collector, will take it away. And, once the foulness of this world leaves us, we will be able to see properly, speak properly, and smell fresh air for the first time.
Have you ever wondered how people can live working or living in a smelly environment? It is actually simple. Your senses get used to it. You don’t even recognize it’s there anymore. I worked for years at an aerosol spray paint factory (Yes, I know, that explains a lot). I know this dynamic.
Even living near a pizzeria or bakery might seem delightful at first. But, soon, the smell of pizza or any baked goods makes your stomach turn. One of my sisters used to live in an apartment in downtown above a pizzeria. The smell gets to you after a while.
What about people who live near the railroad tracks? They get used to the noise and rattling dishes. They hardly notice it anymore.
For these reasons and many more, we need to be extremely careful. Never believe that you have arrived as a Christian. Paul never thought that. There will always be things in our lives that need the healing touch of the Great Rubbish Collector – Christ Jesus. We may be unaware of these things because they are so engrained in our lives.
The important thing is to keep pushing onward in our call from Christ. Don’t look back. Use Lot’s wife as an example and warning. She was turned to a pillar of salt when she looked back on Sodom.
Let us reach out our hands to what Christ wants to give us. Let us leave go of the rubbish that Jesus would be delighted to take away from us. Let us relish the honor of being called and serving Christ Jesus. There is truly no better thing!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
No comments:
Post a Comment