DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Gains and Losses
by Judy Webb
Did you give up much when you decided to follow Christ? Or were you always a believer? Did any of those things seem like a hardship to let go of? Paul is sharing how his entire life changed. His attitude took a complete about face and with the changed and transformed heart he walked a bold and different path.
Have you ever had to make a decision that was hard to do? Did you try the popular method some employ and make two lists? One column on the benefits of one decision and the other column perhaps weighing the negatives of that decision.
It seems possibly what Paul did when faced with giving up his prior way of life to embrace the Gospel of Jesus. Paul had to let go of everything familiar and make the change of a lifetime. He went from persecutor to promoter, from one who denies Christ to someone who claims Him as Savior. He changed from a man whose sole purpose was to punish believers of Jesus, into a new man with a new vision to lead all to believe in Jesus.
"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." (Philippians 3:7-8)
Paul made the great renunciation by declaring the only gain in life is to find Christ. Paul believed that once saved, all the things that were so important no longer meant anything to him. He had seen the glory of the Lord, and all other glories were like nothing in comparison.
Paul, raised and educated with the Scriptures in his head, never really got into his heart. He never wrapped his mind around what the Word of God was truly saying to him. Until God got his attention in a big way. Has God commanded your attention in a big way? Is your story similar at all to Paul's conversion story? Care to share?
PRAYER
Dear Lord,
Thank you for chasing me down, for never giving up on me. Like Paul, I embraced your truth once I heard it for myself. Help me share that truth with others. Amen.
