“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Philippians 3:12
Paul states that he did not obtain “all this”. What is “all this”? It is the full righteousness of God, the full power of the resurrection and the sufferings of Jesus, and becoming fully like Jesus. Paul says that he is still pressing on for the goal that Jesus has for him.
Jesus was sent to the earth by God the Father to save every person. He was to remove all sin and make all people perfect like the Father. This would open the door of communication and a relationship between all people and God the Father.
The world is also striving for a goal. Each person is striving to be better, have more things, more money, more power. They are aiming for a higher position, more fame, and more acceptance. They want things bigger, better, and faster. Ultimately they want to be above everyone else.
These goals may be good or bad, but all of them are temporary. They are only good for this life. Once death comes, all these things strived for fall away and become worthless.
Christ came to give you life. He came to bring you into an eternal relationship with God the Father. The Creator of the entire universe wants to have a close, best friend relationship with you. In the process of having that relationship, He wants to give you the best life possible. God wants to show you how to really live life to the fullest.
What is your goal in life? Is it a temporary one, like most of the world? Or is the eternal one that Jesus has for you?
Once you have that goal, press on. This means you must keep pushing hard to get it. Do not settle for second place. Do not settle for failure. Keep working at being exactly like Jesus. Keep working on getting closer to the Father. Keep pushing through the hard times, struggles, and pain. In the end it will be worth it all–a perfect life in heaven with God for all eternity. Don’t give up!
I pray today that God will give you strength to keep going; that God will give you vision of what He has in plan for you; that your relationship with God will grow closer; and that you will become more like Jesus everyday.
Leave a Reply