...to know You...

“7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead” Philippians 3:7-11.

This passage is so Jesus-centered, so Messiah-focused. For Paul, God regards all Christians as being ‘in Christ’. And “to be in Christ” is also a matter of personal knowledge. But be careful here, knowing Christ is not just “knowing about” Jesus the Messiah, but “knowing Him” in a personal relationship. “Knowing Christ” is also a matter of conformity of life: You and I must be committed to living in patterns of behavior that characterize the Messiah. We must be committed to living in patterns of behavior that bring us to Christ. After all, it is better to have the Messiah, and to follow Him through the cross to the resurrection, than to have anything and anyone else in the world.

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Today’s Prayer

Oh Lord, I am struggling, and more than anything else,

I want to live in You. I want to know You.

But I want to know You — not just in my head,

— but I want to know You in my heart.

I want so much to live in consistent patterns of behavior

that bring joy in Your heart and blessings in my life.

Help me to find You and follow You.

And this I pray in Your Name, amen.