Prison Break: Focusing
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! 12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.
Notice what Paul says:
- Verse 7: I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of…Christ.
- Verse 8: Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the…value of knowing Christ.
- Verse 8b: For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.
- Verse 9: …I no longer count on my own righteousness…rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.
- Verse 10: I want to know Christ…
- Verse 13: … I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to…receive the heavenly prize…through Christ Jesus…
Steve Jobs (the founder of Apple) said the following in his biography by Walter Isaacson:
We talked a lot about focus…The main thing I stressed was focus. Figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up. It’s now all over the map. What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest, because they’re dragging you down.
Focus: (Latin) hearth, fire place, altar, the center of activity or energy. (English) bull’s eye, target, signi-ficant thing
What is the one thing on which we should focus? John 3:16; John 17:3
What is Eternal Life? To know Christ.
Everlasting Life and Eternal Life are the same Greek word: ai-o-ni-os. It means: Without beginning and end.
Paul mentions the word Christ 36 Times in Philippians. (17 times in Chapter 1). 1 John 3:1-3 (Message Bible)
Homework: Continue Reading Philippians 3. Start reading one of the Gospels (Matthew – John).
sending...
