Philippians 3:16
The latest in a series of devotions. If you're looking for Sunday's sermon, please scroll down.
Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.
In the preceding verses, Paul has argued that Christians cannot become perfect in this life; complete conformity to Christ can only come after this life, with the resurrection of the dead.
Still, Paul believes that we can grow more and more into Christ’s image throughout our lives. There are times, no doubt, in our lives that confirm this is true.
I am amazed at how having a daughter is teaching me an incredible amount about Christlikeness. In a way, parenting is a spiritual discipline, if I’m aware enough of it to appropriate its lessons.
For example, I am not by nature a selfless person. Actually, I really like very basic comforts in life. I like greasy food like pizza and burgers. I like to listen to music. I like having quiet time and I like having time to exercise. I especially like long nights of sleep.
Having a baby is challenging all of these things. We’re more budget conscious, so there’s more spaghetti-eating than pizza-picking-up. I forget the last time I simply listened to a whole album of music. Quiet time is an absolute premium; exercise is squeezed in. And sleep is great by baby standards, but not by pre-baby standards.
The reason I say it is a discipline with power to change me is that I have no options. I have to care for Grace. I can’t simply choose to put her aside and go for a run. I can’t simply choose to not tend to her when she cries in the middle of the night or at 5:30 in the morning. I have to be a dad first now.
And here’s the thing: it’s changing me. Sleeping uninterrupted until 5:30 now is greeted with more gratefulness than a lazy morning dozing until 11 AM used to be. I treasure what sleep I get as a gift. I really enjoy it when I have music on now, instead of letting it drift along in the background. I treasure music now more than I used to. I even am learning to treasure those moments when nothing is going right—when she won’t fall asleep, when she roars for food when Mommy’s not there.
Like Paul reminds me, though, those things can never make me perfect. I can grow in my love and gratitude toward God and people, but there will still be mornings I am muttering under my breath about my lack of sleep, missing my old life.
Still, this verse reminds me that I need to hang on to what I am learning here. “Hold fast to what we have attained,” reminds us that each moment of spiritual insight and growth is precious. It is a tremendous thing to look at your heart then and now and see that you have grown, that you have changed, that you look and act more like Jesus now than you did a day ago, a week ago, a year ago. In my case, I’m so happy to see how God is weaning me more from self through the gift of a child. (And she’s an awfully cute way to grow spiritually!)
If I “graduate” from Grace, and go stumbling back to what used to be, then I show contempt for this good gift. I show that I don’t truly want to be like Christ if I give these lessons back, if I put my heart in the wrong place and go back to being the same person I was before. Every step on the road to becoming like Christ is precious and we dare never give any of that ground back. We hold fast and we forget what lay behind and we press on toward what is ahead, desperate for that next time, desperate for that day when the resurrection makes us completely into his image.
Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.
In the preceding verses, Paul has argued that Christians cannot become perfect in this life; complete conformity to Christ can only come after this life, with the resurrection of the dead.
Still, Paul believes that we can grow more and more into Christ’s image throughout our lives. There are times, no doubt, in our lives that confirm this is true.
I am amazed at how having a daughter is teaching me an incredible amount about Christlikeness. In a way, parenting is a spiritual discipline, if I’m aware enough of it to appropriate its lessons.
For example, I am not by nature a selfless person. Actually, I really like very basic comforts in life. I like greasy food like pizza and burgers. I like to listen to music. I like having quiet time and I like having time to exercise. I especially like long nights of sleep.
Having a baby is challenging all of these things. We’re more budget conscious, so there’s more spaghetti-eating than pizza-picking-up. I forget the last time I simply listened to a whole album of music. Quiet time is an absolute premium; exercise is squeezed in. And sleep is great by baby standards, but not by pre-baby standards.
The reason I say it is a discipline with power to change me is that I have no options. I have to care for Grace. I can’t simply choose to put her aside and go for a run. I can’t simply choose to not tend to her when she cries in the middle of the night or at 5:30 in the morning. I have to be a dad first now.
And here’s the thing: it’s changing me. Sleeping uninterrupted until 5:30 now is greeted with more gratefulness than a lazy morning dozing until 11 AM used to be. I treasure what sleep I get as a gift. I really enjoy it when I have music on now, instead of letting it drift along in the background. I treasure music now more than I used to. I even am learning to treasure those moments when nothing is going right—when she won’t fall asleep, when she roars for food when Mommy’s not there.
Like Paul reminds me, though, those things can never make me perfect. I can grow in my love and gratitude toward God and people, but there will still be mornings I am muttering under my breath about my lack of sleep, missing my old life.
Still, this verse reminds me that I need to hang on to what I am learning here. “Hold fast to what we have attained,” reminds us that each moment of spiritual insight and growth is precious. It is a tremendous thing to look at your heart then and now and see that you have grown, that you have changed, that you look and act more like Jesus now than you did a day ago, a week ago, a year ago. In my case, I’m so happy to see how God is weaning me more from self through the gift of a child. (And she’s an awfully cute way to grow spiritually!)
If I “graduate” from Grace, and go stumbling back to what used to be, then I show contempt for this good gift. I show that I don’t truly want to be like Christ if I give these lessons back, if I put my heart in the wrong place and go back to being the same person I was before. Every step on the road to becoming like Christ is precious and we dare never give any of that ground back. We hold fast and we forget what lay behind and we press on toward what is ahead, desperate for that next time, desperate for that day when the resurrection makes us completely into his image.
posted by Rev. Michael Jordan at 10:08 AM
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