Becoming Devo #2

Read Philippians 3:7-14

Take a minute to think about something: what things are important to you? What do you spend most of your time doing? Stop reading this, and think for a moment. Don’t start reading again until you have an answer . . .

Got your answer? Good. What was it? Sports or school? Music or family? Your job? A car? Maybe a girlfriend or boyfriend? Chances are, whatever you identified as important to you probably takes up a lot of your time and energy. We are devoted to those things that are important to us. Can you say the same for your spiritual life?

Ouch. Touched a sore subject, huh? Well, never fear. Help is on the way.

Take a moment to read Philippians 3:7–8. Pay attention to verse 8. Can you, like Paul, say that everything else pales in comparison to the greatness of getting to know Jesus? If not, well . . . why not? Do you think it is unreasonable to devote yourself that deeply to Christ? Paul didn’t think so. In fact, he said he had “lost all things” for Jesus’ sake. Paul literally let everything else fall by the wayside. His devotion to Jesus was the number one priority in his life.

Paul painted an incredible picture of his goals. Read verses 9–11. Verse 10 is flat-out amazing. Paul longed to intimately know every detail about Christ! He wanted to live in such a way that he knew firsthand the power of the resurrected Christ. He wanted to know what it meant to suffer for the name of Christ. He was not afraid to die because he knew he would live in heaven.

Here, we see something pretty cool about Paul. After all he had done and all he had been through, he still wasn’t as close to God as he wanted to be. Read verses 12–14. Do you understand what Paul was saying? Paul wanted to know everything about Christ and what
it meant to follow Him, but Paul admitted he wasn’t there yet. He hadn’t attained the level of devotion and familiarity he desired. But he pressed on. He committed to getting close to Christ no matter the cost.

What will it cost you to commit to this kind of devotion? God has given you so much! How can you give back to Him? If you are willing, talk to God today about helping you become the kind of committed follower Paul wrote about. Ask God for the strength to press on toward the goal He has set for you. Trust that God will be faithful to His Word.