Day #1918

April 2, 2019 

Tuesday’s Thoughts on Scripture comes from Philippians 3:7: Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. (NRSV)

Paul writes to the people of Philippi that he had many reasons to be confident “in the flesh” (verse 4b). He had lived his life learning about God, even teaching about God, being devout as a Jew, and following God’s rules and laws to the perfection of the letter. Yet, Paul comes to realize, through the grace and love of Jesus, that anything he has accomplished in his life or ways he has followed the law, do not matter in the face of Christ and the power of his death and resurrection (verse 9: ...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith). It is faith in Jesus that makes all the difference, not what we do to earn his favor. Oh, and by the way, even faith comes from God. 

This made me think about all those checks written for offerings to the church. Or all those Sundays teaching Sunday School. Or all those nights spent in meetings at council or committees. Or all those Bible Studies attended. Or any of those things we might think are the “punches in our ticket” toward a good relationship with God. Not a single one of those stands up in the face of God’s love and grace. 

Whew…that makes me hugely thankful. Hugely!

Blessings.