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I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. Phil. 3:12-15

Gracious Jesus, it’s good to be free from the “paralysis of analysis”—an unhealthy, navel-gazing preoccupation with ourselves. But it’s equally good to be free to examine our lives through the lens of the gospel. Help us to do so today, even by the beauty and truth of this one passage.

I don’t know how old Paul was when he was when he wrote these words—maybe in his sixties or seventies—but it’s obvious that with an increase in age came an increase in gospel astonishment. He never grew bored exploring the unsearchable, limitless riches of Jesus; he never seemed to tire of wrestling with the radical implications of the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel was so big to Paul, he writes like a man for whom your grace was like a giant ocean in which he had just put one toe. Jesus, make us this kind of disciples.

Give us a never-ending always-accelerating fascination with the gospel. We are so thankful it’s your grip on us, and not our grasp of you, that defines our discipleship. Because sometimes we lift our hands in awe and gratitude for the ways you love us. But other times we shake our fists at heaven like pouting, demanding children. Still other times we wring our hands in anxious unbelief, like hapless orphans. But we live, and we will die, secure in your palms and written upon your heart. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah… for the firm, loving grip you have on us!

Jesus, we praise you that as with Paul, you’ve given us a prize to win, not a wage to earn. We never earned our way into a relationship with you, and we don’t maintain a relationship with you by our efforts either. It’s all of grace, from beginning to end. When we begin to doubt this, even a tiny bit, smite us with the gospel again. Keep rescuing us from both arrogance and shame.

What do we want for the rest of our days—what will “straining forward” look like? We cannot say it any better than Paul: Jesus, we want to know you more intimately than ever. This is the one thing we want more than anything else. And we want to experience more of the power of your resurrection, for we have no power in ourselves to love others as you love us.

And we also want to enter more fully into the fellowship of sharing in your sufferings—living out the birth pangs of new-creation life in this broken world which groans for its release from the bondage to decay—a release that is sure to come (Rom. 8:18-25). Our labors in you are not in vain, Jesus (Phil. 3:10-11). This is what we long for. Help us to have done with lesser things and be more taken up with the things which matter most to your heart. So very Amen we pray, in your most gracious and glorious name.

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