Friday the 22nd

Philippians 3:12-14

 

¹²Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

 

Two things strike me about this passage. First, Paul makes it clear that we are not on a train heading to a specific point or station that we can see coming down the track. We are more like the runner that leaves the house and when asked how far they will run, they respond, I do not know. We are reaching out for our salvation; it is not a point on the map that when we arrive we say Ahhhh FINALLY! Our salvation is a progressive sanctification, we always have more work to do, and until the day we die, we must work towards that goal! Second, this reminds me to beware of the Christian “guru” we all know someone like that. The fella who believes that he has reached the pinnacle of his spiritual achievement, and can now sit back and tell others how to live. There is no perfection, only the race for it. There was only one perfect man…..and we nailed him to a cross. So are you riding a train, or going out for a run? I suggest the second. Lace up your Nikes and hit the path. Where it will take you, the Lord only knows for sure, but don’t stop running. There are many checkpoints along the way, but the finish line is at the feet of Christ!

 

Peace,

Brian