It takes time for a little child to learn to count very far. He may learn to count to ten, because he has ten fingers on his two hands. It takes time for him to learn the teens, the twenties, the hundreds and thousands.
It also takes a full-grown child of God a length of time to learn to count the blessings God gives us in Christ. He can count his earthly possessions and even boast about how rich he is. He can brag also about what he has done and about what he thinks he is. Paul did that while still a Pharisee. In Philippians 3:4, 5 he lists what erroneously gave him such confidence of being a faithful servant of God. He even bragged of having the right zeal when he persecuted the church.
How wonderful then that God in His grace changed Paul so that he wrote, "But what things were gain to me, these I counted loss for Christ" ( Philippians 3:7 ).
The important question for us is, What do we count as gain, and what do we count as loss? Are we more interested in getting honor and fame here below before men? Or are we sincerely and seriously interested in receiving salvation and in becoming more humble servants of Christ? Do we want more gold and silver and what they bring us? Or do we have as our first and chief interest what Christ has gotten for us by His cross?
Christ gave up His life and was willing to lose it so that we might be given the wonderful blessings of salvation. But, sad to say, we often by our actions -- even though we dare not say it with our lips -- would rather get rich materially than spiritually. Even our activity on the Lord's day reveals that!
Pray then that God may work in us what He implanted in Paul. Pray that we may count what Christ earned for us -- not what we did -- as gain; and count our material possessions as a loss. We are going to lose all of these material things the day we die. If we can count as gain what is in Christ for His church, we are able to count correctly and to understand what true riches are. Pray for that wisdom and strength.
Read: Philippians 3:1-11 .
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Jeremiah 37 ; Jeremiah 38:1-28
1 Timothy 6:1-21
Psalm 89:38-52
Proverbs 25:28
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Quote for Reflection:
"The Lord sitteth upon the flood..." (Psalm 29:10) No deluge can undermine the foundation of His throne. He is calm and unmoved, however much the deep may roar and be troubled. ..Far out on the wild waste of waters, Jehovah "plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm." Power was displayed in the hurricane whose course this Psalm so grandly pictures; and now in the cool calm after the storm, that power is promised to be the strength of the chosen. He who wings the unerring bolt, will give to His redeemed the wings of eagles; He who shakes the earth with His voice, will terrify the enemies of His saints, and give His children peace. Why are we so weak when we have divine strength to flee to? Why are we troubled when the Lord's own peace is ours?" Charles Spurgeon
