Philippians 3:4b-14
When Paul wrote this letter he was a prisoner in Rome facing possible death, yet he was cheerful. He was urging the people of Philippi to be persistent in their faith and to “rejoice” in the Lord. Before Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus he was a distinguished Pharisee of impeccable ancestry. He was a persecutor of the Christians; he had even approved of the killing of Stephen (Acts 8:1).
Then he met Jesus!
After that he considered his past as rubbish and was willing to follow Christ “all the way to the cross.” “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection in the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Rick Warren says Paul’s life had been transformed because the grace of Jesus had taken hold of him. His was a purpose driven life. He was in prison but he still managed to witness to the prison guards and the people who visited him.
Are we willing to go that far for Christ? He has given his all for us, yet we allow so many things to stand in the way of serving him. We need to be able to say with Paul, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Beth Hooker