Counting It All As Garbage
Philippians 3:8
“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ”
Philippians 3:8 NLT
This verse of the Letter of Paul to the Philippians is especially powerful. The Apostle begins this chapter with a litany of his former credentials as a “Hebrew of the Hebrews”, a zealot, a Pharisee, circumcised as per the Jewish law, and a truly righteous man who strictly followed that law. If anyone could be seen as pleasing God by keeping the law and doing good works, it was Paul.
Yet in verse 8, he regards his past as garbage. Paul realizes that compared to knowing Jesus as his Lord and Savior, all of his past accomplishments are nothing. Before he became a follower of Christ, he thought that all of the things he did made him successful in his efforts to please God by works. Sure, Paul’s works and following the law were pleasing to God (although He probably wasn’t too happy with Paul standing by cheering on those who were stoning Stephen…), but paled in significance to his eventual personal relationship with Jesus.
Barb and I have realized lately that so much of our lives up to this point were dedicated to accumulating things and experiences, not “storing up treasures in Heaven” (Matthew 6:20). We finally came to the conclusion that in the eternal view, these things are of no consequence. Our life goals now? Selling those unused possessions that have earthly value and giving the proceeds to those who are less fortunate, donating other items in support of the poor or homeless, and building our relationship with the Lord.
If we had one message we could tell earlier versions of ourselves, it would be to say “no” to that constant need to accumulate and focus instead on storing up those treasures in Heaven.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, my prayer today is that my desire to know Christ expands until I consider the things I now find valuable as worthless as garbage, in order to gain Christ in my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.