Philippians 3:12-21
Call it a rat race, call it a dog-eat-dog world, call it whatever you like we all can attest to the fact that we live in a goal-oriented, results hungry society. Every morning when we get up before our feet hit the floor, before we squirt a little Crest on our toothbrush, we’ve started laying out for ourselves our goals for the day. It may start with something as simple as not burning your bagel in the toaster, but chances are as your day progresses the complexity of the goals and the consequences of not hitting those goals probably intensify.
There are sale quotas to hit, appointments to make, items to buy. Some days all this stuff comes at us so fast and furious, our ultimate goal may be just to get back home with our sanity intact. But with all that, when you think about it, few things in our daily lives satisfy more than hitting a goal, but the minute our attention slips from those pursuits with everything we’ve got, that’s when we fall short.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the church that he founded in the city of Philippi, located in Greece he expresses pure joy over the love the church as for him and for Jesus. It is a congregation of faithful believers and Paul, as their pastor, is blessed by that. What makes the joy of this letter so unique, amazing even, is that it’s being written while Paul sits in a Roman prison. His crime? “Being a pest and stirring people up.” How? By constantly preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the single most important goal in Paul’s life following his spiritual transformation on the Damascus Road. And he tells us in this letter that he in fact has pretty much every inmate in the prison with him talking about Jesus.
So, what’s Paul’s secret? How does he maintain such joy in the Lord while living under horrific circumstances? And keep in mind that Paul’s burdens in ministry aren’t limited to jail. He’s been beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, persecuted and prosecuted. Most of the time he’s broke and most of the time he isn’t sure where his next meal is coming from. But…
He sticks faithfully to his goal to “preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Imagine if we pursued the goal of growing in our faith and understanding of Jesus with that kind of passion. Imagine if the goal of drawing nearer to Jesus supplanted every other worldly goal that we chase after with such determination. How does Paul do it? Take a look, this is from Philippians 3:12-16.
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”
In this short run of verses, Paul gives us three points that make pursuing the goal of knowing Jesus better attainable.
Point one? Be humble! Look how Paul starts us off. “I am not perfect!” In fact, the more you study about Paul, the more you come to see that he’s actually pretty transparent when it comes to his shortcomings and scriptures tell us over and over again that Jesus loves a humble heart.
Point two. Leave your past in the past! Prior to encountering Jesus, Paul was a ruthless, brutal persecutor of Christian believers. Had he chosen to stay hung up on that character flaw after receiving the call Jesus placed on his life, the world today would be a much different place and the Bible would be a whole lot thinner! When we receive Jesus into our hearts understand that He will make you aware that the darkness of your past has been washed clean by His blood. Your past is no longer a millstone around your neck. Jesus replaces the sinner with a disciple so, embrace your new title! Paul goes so far as to call us Ambassadors for Jesus. That’s good work if you can get it! And you can…
If you get to talking with folks about your life before Jesus, don’t wallow in it. Instead, share with them how it was Jesus that pulled you out of that life.
Point Three. Keep pressing towards the ultimate goal, “the upward prize” which is knowing that you belong to Jesus and that one day you will be joined to Him forever. Paul closes by telling us that when we’re mature in our faith, chasing this goal will always be our top priority. He even encourages those who may not understand that yet, telling them that God will reveal Himself to them and they will be blessed with the chance to come to know what Paul and millions of other believers know. But you have to keep striving after the goal!