“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” -Philippians 3:10-11
God has created us with the ability to love and express ourselves. We, having been created in the image of God, can truly have no fulfillment in our earthly pursuits apart from knowing Him. The Apostle Paul having lived a life of achievement, notoriety and wealth found himself emotionally and spiritually bankrupt. It wasn’t until he encountered Jesus Christ in a face-to-face meeting on the road to Damascus that his own self-righteousness and personal status were devastated. From that moment forward, his life took on meaning and purpose. One would’ve thought that the great Apostle would have boasted of having arrived, but the opposite was true. Paul expressed in the verses above that his greatest passion was to pursue God with all of his being and with the hope of continuing to pursue Him until the end of his life. This experience should define our walks as believers as well. Do we know Christ today, living as disciples the way Paul did? Do our thoughts and actions glorify and honor Christ? Can it be said of us that we desire the fellowship of His sufferings to gain His nearness? Blessed are those who find themselves in earnest pursuit of knowing the Almighty God in such a personal and intimate way.
Pastor Jack