Compared To You, It's All Trash
Jul 27, 07:16 PM
I rejoice that You have brought me to this spot, this day. Yet, I count everything as trash that I might gain You, or, rather, as Paul goes on to say in Philippians…be found in You.
Compared to You, it’s all trash.
I have been given much. I have even achieved some things. But I won’t look back. No, I will move forward in faith…towards the goal (Phil. 3:13,14). What is the goal? The goal is to be like You. That means sharing in your sufferings and being conformed to Your image.
Compared to You, it’s all trash.
Not that this world is “bad”. For, You give everything. It is my place to receive…in thankfulness. If I don’t, I am not following “the call”. You will use everything that comes my way to conform me. Ease and trouble. Plenty and little. Light and dark. This life You have given is full. This world is filled with much. A lot of it is good, but…
Compared to You it’s all trash.
I will no longer be infatuated with this world. For, what is so enticing about trash? No, i will be content. If i strive at all (and I am sure I will. It seems to be in me), I will strive forward to grab hold of Life…to grab hold of the Promise. And hang on to all that You do, and have done, to make it available and bring it about.
Compared to You, it’s all trash.
I won’t look back…at the bad or the good. Rather, I will live in the now. I will live in the present. I want to live in Your presence. For everything that is good about me comes from knowing You and identifying with You (yes, including sufferings…maybe especially sufferings). That happens in the present, in Your presence.
Compared to You, it’s all trash.
Now, all of my striving doesn’t come from the fact that I have achieved any kind of righteousness. It’s not because I have attained righteousness on any level. Quite contrarily, I seek to grab hold of the gift that is offered and make it my own…just as Jesus has made me His own.
Compared to You, it’s all trash.
As I strive, I will empty and free my hands so that they can be opened up to You to receive. From now on…from the present, forward…I want to let go of all I have known and said and grab hold of what you give.
Compared to You, it’s all trash.