Pondering Philippians
Paul says the most amazing things while sitting in a prison cell. Things that completely expose my commitment to comfort and violently display the contrast of true passion with the weakness of my own vision. He didn’t care if people preached with wrong motives, he just wanted Christ exalted. He didn’t care about his own sufferings, he just gloried in the reality that the gospel was advancing through his trial. And he hoped only “…that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.”
He saw Christ Himself. He came face to face with Jesus, who “existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant….” How could you see this God Man and not be seared for life? How could you encounter such Glory and not be confronted with His incomprehensible humility?
Our Servant King… Our Humble God. I believe Paul had been so undone by the revelation of Christ’s humility that he joyfully walked away from the accolades of man. He bore the fingerprints of a much greater Kingdom. He was branded by the love of God, and had completely sold his soul to heaven. Christ is all, in all and through all. He is worth it all. No matter the cost, no matter the pain or resistance, no matter the torture or the loss. Is the gospel preached? Is Christ glorified? Then all is good.
Lord…. please do this in me. May my one desire be to see you glorified. May my greatest passion be to see you high and lifted up.
Whether I live or die, let your name be renowned. May your love lay waste to all other loves within me.
Everything else pales in beauty.