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 (Philippians 3:12).
Prison is an unlikely place for anyone to be joyful. But the epistle to the Philippians presents a different view. In chapter 1:7, we are given an indication that of the letter was written from prison, yet it contains some of the greatest themes of joy, praise and adoration you can find in the Bible. Now that is surprising because normally, a man in prison wouldn’t be pouring out such admonishments to be joyful as seen in Philippians.
John MacArthur in a commentary on Philippians notes that “In spite of Paul’s imprisonment, the dominant tone of the letter is joyful. And he lists all the texts that speaks about joy (1: 4, 18, 25, 26; 2: 2, 16– 18, 28; 3: 1, 3; 4: 1, 4, 10).
When a New Year is approaching, there are two views often expressed by people. Some, with good intentions, claim the New Year is just another ordinary day and people shouldn’t be sentimental about it. Yes, we can say that. But in a certain sense, which is the second majority view, a New Year is unlike every other day. At least it adds a year to people’s ages as the year progresses. It also gives us the opportunity to reset. New Year resolutions are made. Some will keep theirs, others will break their resolution in the middle of the year or even right from day one. In addition, in the New Year things will come up that we never planned.
But one thing we must look forward to doing in this New Year is being effective and productive in our lives. Productive in our service to God. Productive in our employment and businesses. Productive in all our responsibilities in life. Kevin De Young, on the New Year eve shared the below message on Facebook which I found wise.
Life can be complicated and confusing. Thankfully, there are simple habits that can help us grow as people and as Christians in the New Year: study the Bible, pray, read books, sleep more, exercise more, phone less, online less, tv less, get plugged in at a good church.
This is good, godly and biblical counsel. Now Paul, though in Prison, clearly hasn’t given up on life as we see from his encouragement to be joyful. Taken a back seat and complaining. The words he wrote in Philippians are words we can glean from in this New Year.
No Complacency
All of us can become complacent in life. Especially in our walk with God. When Paul said “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect…” in the opening text, he was clearly speaking against becoming complacent in his life and walk with God. “Not that I have already obtained this…” What is “this” Paul is speaking about? In the previous verses, he was speaking about what we may call goals or resolutions or vision — he had for himself. In 3:10 he writes, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Three things stand out in that verse, (i) Know Christ (ii) Share in Christ’s suffering (iii) Christlikeness.
These three goals points us to what Paul meant by “this”. “Not that I have already obtained this…” Paul says he has not obtained “this” – the three goals mentioned. It is interesting thatan apostle of his calibre, will still say he wants to know Christ. This must indeed be the desire of every Christian. We must seek to grow in our walk of faith. We must seek to increase in our knowledge of Christ (Ephesians 1:15-23; Colossians 2:6-8; 1 Peter 2:2-3)
And if you are reading this but have not come to a saving faith in Christ, I plead with you; just as Paul desired to know Christ, let that be your desire for the New Year. Seek Christ now, don’t let the New Year pass you by without taking hold of Christ. Again, as believers, we must be willing to share in the suffering of Christ. This for some may mean denying themselves of certain privileges and opportunities because of Christ. It may mean also in some extreme cases losing our lives for the sake of Christ.
Now more broadly, to not be complacent will mean seeking to progress in whatever we put our hands to, including our service to God. Complacency also means resting on past glory. Some people can look at their past achievements in life and become complacent. But no, we must forge ahead. There is more to be done for the kingdom of God.
Perseverance
The word “press” in the text is basically to give oneself to or pursue something. When Paul said he presses on, he meant he perseveres. He reaches out. In verse 3:13, he uses the phrase “straining forward.” This paints a picture of exerting effort at reaching something. More specifically, he said “straining forward to what lies ahead”. He was focused on what Christ had called him for, and he won’t easily give up. This New Year will come with a lot of challenges and disappointments, sometimes failure in our walk with God. But we must not give up. We must not turn our backs on God. We must press on until we have accomplished God’s will for our lives in this life and also to one day inherit eternal life.
Let’s look towards this New Year with hope in God.
Note
This article was originally posted by the author on sovereigngracegh.org with some modification.
