Like clouds and wind without rain is a person who boasts of gifts that he or
she does not have. ~Proverbs 25:14
If anyone thinks that he or she has reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the Church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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 is through Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. ~Philippians 3:4B-11
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. ~Galatians 6:14
Paul is a man who received the wake-up call, knew his ladder was leaning up against the wrong wall and climbed down to change it. Paul was a man of promise. He had the right pedigree, the best education, the best training, and his views were exemplary. He had everything it would take, from the world’s prospective, to be a somebody, some day.
Fortunately, he learned before it was too late, that what he really had was like clouds without rain. His worldly accomplishments looked good but delivered very little. I can imagine the farmer whose crops are beginning to fail because of the lack of rain. Every day he rises to watch the sky and pray for rain. Finally, one afternoon, off to the West, he sees something dark on the horizon. With anticipation he stands and watches as it grows to fill the western sky.
Finally, it is overhead. The wind is strong, but the result is to blow the dried soil into the air and into his eyes. As he watches, the cloud continues on, off to the East. Finally, it slips beyond the Eastern horizon with nothing but further destruction of his crops in its wake. He had hoped that this was the day that the Lord would answer his prayers, but he was worse off now than before.
In the same way, Paul had hoped that his worldly accomplishments would get him into heaven, by producing a bumper crop of good works that would please God. Paul thought that he had a lot by earthly standards, but, in the end, he realized, they didn’t amount to much. It was the wood, hay and straw, that we have talked about before. However, before Paul knew what little he really had, he would have been tempted to boast of what he could do on his own, promising, what he thought he could deliver, but it was all in his own strength.
How awesome that when Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul suddenly realized the emptiness of his cloud of accomplishments and accepted the change in direction. Instead of being a man with personal ambition, his goal became: “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Instead of bragging about his own accomplishments, Paul changed his tune: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”
Paul changed from being a cloud of empty promise that couldn’t deliver, into a cloud full of blessing for others. This leads me to another way of looking at the farmer story too. Paul with all his accomplishments, could be seen as the boastful but empty cloud, the Pharisee teacher who is supposed to be helpful to the poorer, less educated Jews, but who always disappointed them by making them feel small compared to him, and hopeless because they were not as good as he thought he was. We can still meet people who have that effect on us.
As I reflect on the changes that God has made in my life, my goals, my thoughts and my priorities, it happened when I was young, before I graduated college, so I had not yet accumulated as much as Paul had in his career before Christ. However, there were people around me who had high hopes for what I could accomplish if I would just apply myself. But fun was more important to me. Talk about empty!
I had my head in the clouds, clouds of pot smoke, that promised joy and fun and relaxation, but left me worse off than I would have been without it. It wasn’t long before I was among the disappointed, feeling empty and hopeless, with no goals and no dreams left to pursue, and no resources with which to pursue any, because I had already wasted too much precious time in which I didn’t apply myself.
I am very grateful indeed for what Jesus means to me now. There is no question at all in my mind that what I once valued really was rubbish! Now I want to boast with Paul all about how good Jesus is, and how full my life is! I certainly didn’t deserve it!
Prayer: Yes Lord, I want to know You Jesus Christ, more and more as time goes on. I already feel the power of Your resurrection changing my life. I accept and embrace the fellowship of sharing in Your sufferings, becoming like You in Your death, not by actual crucifixion, but by be being willing to do Your will for me even if it is hard and I suffer for it. It’s all worthwhile because I know you also grant me resurrection from the dead. And because of all this I pray that You can use me to rain down Your showers of blessings for the people in my life, so they get to know You too. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: What A difference You’ve Made in My Life
If anyone thinks that he or she has reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the Church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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 is through Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. ~Philippians 3:4B-11
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. ~Galatians 6:14
Paul is a man who received the wake-up call, knew his ladder was leaning up against the wrong wall and climbed down to change it. Paul was a man of promise. He had the right pedigree, the best education, the best training, and his views were exemplary. He had everything it would take, from the world’s prospective, to be a somebody, some day.
Fortunately, he learned before it was too late, that what he really had was like clouds without rain. His worldly accomplishments looked good but delivered very little. I can imagine the farmer whose crops are beginning to fail because of the lack of rain. Every day he rises to watch the sky and pray for rain. Finally, one afternoon, off to the West, he sees something dark on the horizon. With anticipation he stands and watches as it grows to fill the western sky.
Finally, it is overhead. The wind is strong, but the result is to blow the dried soil into the air and into his eyes. As he watches, the cloud continues on, off to the East. Finally, it slips beyond the Eastern horizon with nothing but further destruction of his crops in its wake. He had hoped that this was the day that the Lord would answer his prayers, but he was worse off now than before.
In the same way, Paul had hoped that his worldly accomplishments would get him into heaven, by producing a bumper crop of good works that would please God. Paul thought that he had a lot by earthly standards, but, in the end, he realized, they didn’t amount to much. It was the wood, hay and straw, that we have talked about before. However, before Paul knew what little he really had, he would have been tempted to boast of what he could do on his own, promising, what he thought he could deliver, but it was all in his own strength.
How awesome that when Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul suddenly realized the emptiness of his cloud of accomplishments and accepted the change in direction. Instead of being a man with personal ambition, his goal became: “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Instead of bragging about his own accomplishments, Paul changed his tune: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.”
Paul changed from being a cloud of empty promise that couldn’t deliver, into a cloud full of blessing for others. This leads me to another way of looking at the farmer story too. Paul with all his accomplishments, could be seen as the boastful but empty cloud, the Pharisee teacher who is supposed to be helpful to the poorer, less educated Jews, but who always disappointed them by making them feel small compared to him, and hopeless because they were not as good as he thought he was. We can still meet people who have that effect on us.
As I reflect on the changes that God has made in my life, my goals, my thoughts and my priorities, it happened when I was young, before I graduated college, so I had not yet accumulated as much as Paul had in his career before Christ. However, there were people around me who had high hopes for what I could accomplish if I would just apply myself. But fun was more important to me. Talk about empty!
I had my head in the clouds, clouds of pot smoke, that promised joy and fun and relaxation, but left me worse off than I would have been without it. It wasn’t long before I was among the disappointed, feeling empty and hopeless, with no goals and no dreams left to pursue, and no resources with which to pursue any, because I had already wasted too much precious time in which I didn’t apply myself.
I am very grateful indeed for what Jesus means to me now. There is no question at all in my mind that what I once valued really was rubbish! Now I want to boast with Paul all about how good Jesus is, and how full my life is! I certainly didn’t deserve it!
Prayer: Yes Lord, I want to know You Jesus Christ, more and more as time goes on. I already feel the power of Your resurrection changing my life. I accept and embrace the fellowship of sharing in Your sufferings, becoming like You in Your death, not by actual crucifixion, but by be being willing to do Your will for me even if it is hard and I suffer for it. It’s all worthwhile because I know you also grant me resurrection from the dead. And because of all this I pray that You can use me to rain down Your showers of blessings for the people in my life, so they get to know You too. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: What A difference You’ve Made in My Life
Comments
Post a Comment