Day 4

“But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” — Philippians 3:7

Most people want to believe what is true and do what is right. We keep the rules and live as good, responsible citizens. We attend church, but what we hear on Sundays doesn’t translate into Monday, Tuesday or all week long, so we are back on Sunday for another refresher. As sincere as our intentions are, our relationship with God remains stale and our hearts feel barren and bankrupt.

If anyone knew the emptiness and frustration of going through all the motions, it was the Apostle Paul. He referred to himself as ‘a Hebrew of the Hebrews’, proficient in Hebraic language, education and Scripture. He chose to become a Pharisee, the strict fundamentalists of that day, renowned for their discipline and zeal in adhering to the laws of Moses. ‘Pharisee’ means separatist, and they were careful about the clothes they wore, the food they ate, and who they associated with. Whatever security, motivation and ability they had, they mustered for themselves. All their confidence, in a profound effort to please God, was placed in themselves, for this was their responsibility to God. So, in the end, they only had themselves to congratulate for any success.

Religious form is necessary, but is often the enemy of spiritual reality. We can get caught up in right activities, but be devoid of any sense of reality with God. As for legalistic righteousness, Paul said he was faultless, but all his efforts he now considers rubbish. On the road to Damascus, he discovered the righteousness of God is not something to be accomplished, but something to be received! Its origin is in God alone, and is available through faith in Jesus Christ alone. One of the gravest, but most pivotal days in our Christian lives often comes through the brokenness of trying to do all we can to live for God, but realizing we have been living it entirely through our own efforts.

Christ is our Spiritual Life around the clock, seven days a week. If we forget that, we will return to our default position of operating in our own strength. Then when things go wrong, which they often will, we wonder where Christ is. It isn’t the Christian life that is draining. We drain ourselves by not being in touch with the life of Christ within us. Dependency on Him in every aspect of our lives is essential to true biblical Christianity,and keeps us in an experiential knowledge of His working in us.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly father, What a wonderful gift you have given me in Jesus Christ! to have Him work in my life is incredibly liberating, and I am so grateful He lives in me. I trust you, Lord, and depend on you to make me the person you want me to be. thank you, God.

To reflect upon: are there times when I find myself drained of spiritual strength because in this overwhelmingly secular world, it’s just too hard to live the Christian life? If so, have I considered the amount of time I spend alone in communion with Christ?