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If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:4b-14)
I love how eager Paul is to know Jesus as deeply and closely as he can! And no wonder, because to Paul, Jesus is the One who “has made me His own” in spite of Paul’s past as a persecutor of Christ’s people. Jesus knew the truth about Paul; and yet, He loved this man so much that He gave Himself into death so that Paul could live. No wonder Paul is willing to throw everything away—heritage, history, honor—to gain Christ. Nothing else compares to Him.
And that’s true for us, too, isn’t it? Jesus is God Himself, come down from heaven for love of us—come down to be one of us, to become our Savior. It was for love of His Father that He laid down His life on the cross to buy us back from death, ruin, and everlasting grief. It was for love of us that He rose from the dead to become our living Lord, who stands at God’s right hand and intercedes for us even now.
And He has promised to raise each of us from the dead on the day He returns to wind up history and bring us into the new heaven and new earth, where there will be no more sin or sadness or evil or death. We will be with the One who loves us forever.
And we are not just faces in a crowd to Jesus! The Father chose us individually and gave us to Jesus to be His own (see John 6:37-40). He knows us each by name. We are people He knows and loves and watches over, as tenderly as a good mother watches over her baby (see Isaiah 49:15-16; 1 Peter 2:2).
WE PRAY: Dear Lord Jesus, You have made me Your own. Keep me with You forever! Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- How can you get to know Jesus better?
- When you see Jesus face to face, what do you think you will say or do?
- Jesus not only loves you, He likes you. What does that mean to you?
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