Amazing God, may this dear reader see Your presence and power in mighty ways during this day; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text comes from Philippians 3: You know my pedigree: 5 a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God's law; 6 a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting Christians; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God's law Book. 7 The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash - along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. 8 Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant - dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ 9 and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ - God's righteousness. 10 I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. 11 If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it. 12 I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. 13 Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. 14 I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. (The Message)
It's not who you are, but Whose you are. Paul encountered what you and I have probably encountered; those who brag on what someone in their lineage did for the church property or building. "That tree! This pew! That organ pipe! This candle holder! That ice cream scoop!" Well, okay, not that ice cream scoop, but you know what I'm getting at. People looking backwards instead of forwards. Paul had the lineage and he also had the connections. And by his own account he was in every sense of the word, religious and thought he was near righteousness by the way he kept the law. But when Jesus came along, he came to life. I pray that has happened to you as well. Church and all that goes with "church" comes alive and is a powerful and blessed experience when we know the person of Jesus Christ. He offers to us a living relationship and a daily walk and when we enter into that, everything falls into place. Paul's life was never again the same, and neither should ours. Our should be that life of walking and reaching for Christ in order to live and do the things that Christ has asked of us.
So, why be content with only existing when we have an invitation to the fullness of life through Jesus Christ? Every day an adventure. Every day a blessing with hope and promise.
PRAYER: Loving God, help me to reach for Christ today. And may I seek to know Christ more than yesterday. May the fullness of life be mine. I ask this in His precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
