But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11 ESV)
The Apostle Paul found "surpassing worth" in knowing Jesus as Christ and Lord in his life. Compared to this surpassing worth, he says he counts everything as loss - as rubbish! What "everything" is Paul talking about here? He names the stuff he now counts as loss in the previous three verses:
If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. (Philippians 3:4b-6 ESV)
The things Paul names are the very things that are most important about his former identity as a Jew - his circumcision, his ancestry as an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, his being a Pharisee and keeping the Law of Moses, his zeal that even expressed itself in persecuting the church, and his blamelessness under the Law. All these things were what made Paul a somebody in his own identity and in his community. And he counts them all as garbage compared to gaining Christ by faith.
What are the things that give you and me identity and meaning in our lives? As Americans, we are largely defined by our work and our possessions. We seek financial stability and ownership of our own home as markers of having achieved "the American dream." I believe I could have taken up most any career I would have chosen as a young adult. I could have been a doctor or a lawyer or a businessman or a scientist.
And I agree with Paul: any fame and money that would have come from any of those professions would be rubbish if I did not know Jesus and live for Him. To fulfill His calling on my life, I have gladly taken the role and identity of Pastor, and I have seen God use my life as a blessing to multiple churches and many, many people in the past 50 plus years. I wouldn't trade it for anything else.
I believe the first week of every new year is a good time to reinvest my life in my covenant of faith in the God who gives me life and saved me from sin and death. Truth is, I have to continually take up my cross, die to myself, and follow Jesus into new life. I have to die to myself to come alive in Him. When I lay down my life for Jesus, I gain victory over death itself. When I give up my life to Jesus I gain resurrection into new life that does not end when I experience physical death.
One of my routine spiritual practices is to read and listen to The Wake-Up Call by J. D. Walt through Seedbed. Each morning we pray a prayer of consecration that begins, "Jesus, I belong to you..." Living with that sense of His Lordship of my life changes everything. I am His and He is mine. It's doubly true. I belong to Him because He created me and gives me life itself, and I belong to Him because I have willingly given my life to Him by faith. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul says it this way:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
I am no longer my own. I was bought with a price - the price of the life of the Son of God when He laid down His life for me on a Roman cross. In gratitude for His sacrifice for me, I have gladly given my life to Jesus. Wherever life in Christ takes me, it is the best life I could possibly live. Will there be hardship? Oh yes. Will there be pain? Undoubtedly so. Will there be victory? Yes! A life lived for Jesus Christ is a life that finds victory and joy and meaning and ultimately eternity.
On this first Sunday of 2025, our congregation will renew our covenant with God using John Wesley's Covenant Prayer. It is simple, yet profoundly powerful. It is a prayer of consecration to the God who has consecrated Himself to a life-giving covenant with each of us. I recommend it as an utter commitment of our lives into His grace:
I am no longer my own, but Yours.
Put me to what You will, rank me with whom You will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for You, or laid aside for You;
Exalted for You or brought low for You.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, You are mine, and I am Yours. So be it.
And the covenant I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
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