Philippians 3:10–16 – I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. (NIV 1984)
My Musings – Sometimes, maybe most of the time, it is all we can do to just “live up to what we have already attained.” Or is it? Maybe we just need to want it a little more? Paul wanted it, but he also recognized that he had not yet obtained it. Think about all that he endured for the sake of the Gospel.
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? (2 Corinthians 11:23–29, NIV 1984)
If anyone had a excuse to throw up his hands in defeat and say “no more,” it was him. And yet he pressed on. He persisted in his pursuit to be more like Christ. He did not do it alone. He did it by yielding to the Spirit that lived in him, not by yielding to the spirit of this world. That spirit that might have said things like: Haven’t you done enough? Let someone else do it for a change. Why beat yourself up? No one really appreciates what you have gone through, so why risk going through more? Paul recognized how much His Savior had done for him that he persisted in his pursuit of holiness.
President Calvin Coolidge was one of the “accidental” presidents. As Vice President he succeeded Warren G. Harding, who died in office. He was nick-named “silent Cal,” because he rarely said more than was necessary under the circumstances. It is reported that once at a social event a lady informed him that she had made a wager that she could get more than two words out of him. His reply was, “you lose.” Yet his quote on persistence still resonates today, we could use a bit more of it. “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Although I believe he misrepresented the word omnipotent, I think you get the point. Paul got it long before silent Cal did. And so should we.
My Advice – Is Paul’s advice. “All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.” So press on.
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