Send to Kindle…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ… (Philippians 3:8 – NASB)
Reading the Bible is a holy walk, and must be done with an attitude of reverence and alertness that will make us ready to receive truth in a manner that will transform our lives. If we do not, we may find ourselves walking over holy ground, and being totally unaware of the treasures beneath our feet. Like Moses, when we read the Scriptures we need to take the shoes of indifference off our feet, and realise we are treading on holy ground.
When I read the passage before us recently I found myself on holy ground; I found that, just beneath the surface was a secret that would sustain me for the rest of my life. It is a secret I had discovered before, but with the passing of time had slipped into the background.
The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will make them know His covenant. (Psalm 25:14 – NASB)
The secret I re-discovered was that the Christian life is all about Him, has ever been about Him, and will always be about Him. From God’s perspective it is all about us, because He loves us with an everlasting love and sacrificed His only Son so that we should not perish, but that we should have eternal life.
But from our perspective, if we want to grow in grace, we must come to the point where it is all about Him. Every grace and goodness that can flow into our lives comes not from trying to achieve greatness, even the greatness of a holy life, but in making Jesus Christ the pivot and central focus of our lives.
It’s all about HIM
…I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ… (Philippians 3:8 – NASB)
I thought that the Christian Life was
All about striving for greatness;
Striving to make myself holy –
To find, at last, true happiness.
I thought that all of my striving,
And my anxious, fervent longing,
Would create in me a wondrous
Sense of just truly belonging.
Now all these things were admirable,
And worthy of a seeking heart;
They surely were sent from Heaven,
And were meant to give me a start.
Yet something I knew was missing;
It was something I could not yet grasp,
And this something kept eluding,
Till it dawned on me – to just ask.
The secret at last was revealed:
Seek Him until you have found Him,
Then cling with all of your being,
And then you will get to know Him.
It’s really quite simple my friend,
It’s not hard now to understand;
It’s all about Him in the end,
Till at last in His Presence you stand.
Short Author Bio:
Born in South Africa in 1943, Christopher Shennan really began to live on the 29th of August 1967, when he was born again through the power of Jesus Christ. Since then, only one passion has consumed him: to communicate the love of Christ through any and every means at his disposal.
Christopher and his family served as missionaries in Zimbabwe where he established a church amongst the Shona tribe before moving to Canada in 1984. Since his so-called “retirement” in 2008, his involvement in Bible teaching, counseling, even pastoring a church in Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia, has kept him busy.
With thirteen published books behind him, his passion is to pass on all God has taught him to the next generation. There are sixnew novels and numerous non-fiction projects he expects to take him the rest of his life.
