Philippians 3:4b-14

When you have it all, it’s hard to give it up.  I recently went to an estate auction where everything had to be sold, not because of death, but because of divorce.  Two million dollars plus was the bottom line.  The owner rode his prize show horse in the ring while the bidders nodded their heads.  Though the horse sold for an amazing one hundred and two thousand dollars, the owner had to quickly dismount and go into his house where he cried like a baby.  It’s one thing to be forced into giving things up, but quite another to willingly part with that which has given you joy, consumed the attention of your life, and made you proud.

All that the Apostle Paul had previously lived for, he willingly gave up to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  It was not because God wanted to rob him of his joy, but that God wanted to give him a joy that was not built on the temporal, but the eternal.  And when Paul understood the difference, he willingly gave up that which would not last for that which would not end.  His passionate love for Jesus left him focused on grasping all for which Jesus Christ had grasped him.  His was a life of passion!

WE MUST GIVE UP WHAT STANDS BETWEEN GOD AND US — 3:4b-7

The religious zealot, Paul, found that his zealous credentials, though noteworthy among men, were the impenetrable barriers between himself and God.   He had been born in the right family and spent a lifetime of discipline proudly developing these credentials.  Not only was his family proud of him, he was proud of himself.  It would be an unthinkable thought to ever consider giving up that which was the very center of his life.

But what is the cost of giving yourself to that which is less than the most important?

In his new book, The Passion Promise, John Avant relates a story coming out of Desert Storm.  The storm was blowing and “Colonel William Post had a job to do.  He was in charge of receiving all of the incoming supplies for the ground forces.  Among these supplies were the tons of food that came in every day.

One day Colonel Post received a message from the Pentagon requesting that he account for forty cases of missing grape jelly.  The colonel sent a soldier to investigate the mysterious missing jelly; the soldier reported back that it couldn’t be found.  Colonel Post made his report and assumed that would be the end of it.  After all, it was just grape jelly.

He assumed wrong.  The Pentagon continued to press him, pointing out that they needed to close the books for the month, and jelly just couldn’t vanish like that.  Finally they ordered him to find the jelly!