Monday, October 30, 2017

Philippians 3:8 -- Christ versus Everything Else

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ."
Philippians 3:8


This reminds me of King Lamoni's father who said to God "I will give away all my sins to know thee" (Alma 22:18).  I think the point of both verses is that whatever we give up or lose for God is worth it.

We have a hard time learning that lesson I think... the very first lesson.  Commandment #1.  Put. God. First. ... Right?  And yet... we so often think that God should bend his will to *ours* rather than the other way around.  We think that he should accept us as we are, instead of changing ourselves to become worthy of heaven.  We somehow think that God is expecting too much of us, or that he should let our sins (or weaknesses, or preferences) slide because that's who we are, and he made us that way.  ... And yet, God gave us weaknesses not so we could hold onto them with all of our hearts, but so that we could learn to overcome, to triumph, to turn our weaknesses into strengths.

Trying to beg God to let us into heaven as we are is kind of like begging someone for a job as a rocket scientist when the only thing we know about rockets is a model that we started to put together and then gave up on back in 3rd grade.  ... Being prevented from having the job is basically irrelevant, because even if we had it, we wouldn't have any idea what to do with it.  In order to get or keep that job, the preparation for it would still *have* to happen.

Preparation for heaven has to happen too.  No matter how loving and kind God is, we still *must* get ready for it.  Today, let's stop begging God to let us bury our talents or let us walk into heaven dirty and imperfect.  Instead, let's let God teach us and help us to learn and grow and prepare.  Let's choose to accept him and put him first in our lives.  Let's allow him to change our hearts and make us worthy.  Let's give away our sins, and let go of the things that stand in the way of that total commitment to God.  Whatever we lose, no matter how central to our lives it seems, is worth it.  As the verse says, it's all basically dung compared to winning Christ in our lives.  *He* is what matters, and every single thing that we lose will be made up for many, many times over by that relationship with God.  ... Let's try to remember this time. ;)

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