Passage Read: Philippians 3-4
Meditation Verses: 3:8-9
Thought
Paul says he "suffered the loss of all things." His former life was torn from him the moment he believed Jesus. His former position and future in the Sanhedrin were lost to him. He lost friends and mentors and admirers. He lost family. But other things he willingly gave up: whatever home he had in Jerusalem along with whatever possessions he had there. He met Christ and became consumed with knowing Him, understanding Him and serving Him. He spent some time back in his home town of Tarsus, but then walked away from that to join the church at Antioch. Again and again, he gave up his home--in Jerusalem, in Tarsus, in Antioch, in Ephesus, in Corinth, in Rome--to serve the Lord by traveling and preaching the Gospel. He didn't seek to know the Lord in book-learning only, but in experience, living the same life as Jesus lived, itinerant, homeless, welcomed into the homes of others, then moving on again. He could have settled down, worked a trade, led a church, enjoyed stability, but to know Christ beyond just some information about Him and to be found in Him, he gave all that up.
Application
The degree to which Paul came to know the Lord is far beyond what most believers ever experience, but it is not beyond what any believer can experience. Anyone can know Christ the way Paul did. I can know Christ and be certain of my being found in Him. To the degree that I give up the things of this world, which all believers are called to do, to the degree I give up the life I could have on earth and exchange it for a lifetime of sacrifice and service to the Lord, to that same degree I can know Christ. If I give up little of this world, I can know who Jesus is, but my love of this world will keep me from really understanding Jesus. If it give up more of this world to walk more in Christ's ways, then I will know Him better than those who gave up little. And if I give everything up for Him, to know Him and serve Him, I can know Jesus as well as Paul did. Paul calls all believers to follow his pattern, even as he followed the pattern of Christ. That call is for me too. I can suffer the loss of everything over and over again, not just possessions but reputation and relationships and stability--everything!--for the sake of knowing Christ and being found in Him.