Good morning, my brothers! You can follow Jesus for years and still find yourself playing by the old rules. Proving. Performing. Keeping score. Paul discovered there’s a much better way to live. Let’s go! A 57-second read.
Listen to the audio version here:
Saturday, we heard Tom Brady, three rings in, say, "It's got to be more than this." We heard Sean McVay admit the Super Bowl trophy didn't deliver what he expected either.
Both men were asking the same question.
Paul Didn’t Ask
Paul had his own titles and trophies. A Hebrew of Hebrews. A Pharisee. As for righteousness based on the law, faultless (Philippians 3:5–6). He wasn't restless. He was sure.
The day Jesus met him, Paul was on the road to Damascus, "still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples" (Acts 9:1). He wasn't searching for more. He was hunting Christians.
Jesus went after him anyway.
That's the Father. He doesn't wait for us to ask the right question. He comes after us, even when we're asking for far less.
As I detail in my upcoming book, late in 2006, I prayed, "Father, remove everything in my life that keeps me from becoming the man You created me to be. Make me holy." I expected a little polish. The Father scheduled surgery, and over the next several years He showed me how much of my life I'd built on the approval of men. I hadn’t asked for that.
Once Paul met Jesus, every trophy looked different. Mine did too.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.
Paul found the "more" Brady was asking about. It wasn't a bigger trophy. He was a Person.
The Power That Raised Jesus
Paul kept going. "I want to know Christ," he wrote, and "the power of his resurrection" (Philippians 3:10).
Knowing Jesus isn't only about heaven someday. The same power that emptied the tomb is at work in the man who follows Him today.
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
That's the more: the risen Christ, by His Spirit, changing an ordinary man from the inside.
Reflection
Paul wrote this passage more than 25 years after Damascus, and he still wanted to know Jesus more. Do you have that same, constant hunger for Him? How are you getting to know Him right now? Not learning about Him. Knowing Him.
Action
Read at least one chapter of John each morning for the next seven days. Before you read, ask Him to reveal Himself. As you finish, ask, "How do I know Him better?" Write down at least one sentence. A week from now, you'll have seven things He showed you.
Prayer
Father, thank You for coming after me before I ever went looking for You. I want to know Christ. Let the power that raised Him change me today, for Your glory. Amen.
-Will
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