Originally published in the December 1, 2008 issue of The Evangel.
by Scott Claybrook, student ministry intern
"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord...I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings." Philippians 3:7,10
Solitude gives us a long time to think. As Paul sat in his cell, writing a letter to his beloved Philippians, he must have thought about his life. Here he compared his life, along with the world in which he lived, to the life and power of Christ Jesus. He found that what used to matter to him no longer mattered quite as much. The good grades, the good job, and the nice house--to put typical human desires in contemporary terms--Paul considered fleeting and passing; they were no more something to be gained and then to be lost.
There in his cell, what he once counted as gain was of no use to him. But there was something lasting, enduring. Paul realized that the power of Christ endures for us far longer than those other things we might count as "gain" and "good." "There is no greater love than this," Christ says in John 15:13, "that someone lays down his life for a friend." It was in this comfort, this expression of love by Christ, that Paul took refuge. During this season of giving, let us be a people who give something lasting. Let us be a people who provide that very refuge for someone else. Let us be a people who give something that will endure. Let us be a people who give of ourselves this season--our love and our lives.
Read more devotionals written by members of the First Baptist family each day during Advent. The First Baptist Church 2008 Advent Guide is available through the church office and online (you can listen to the devotions too!)
