Most of us that watch any amount of TV have at one point or another seen a commercial for a nonprofit organization showing the dire need of poor children rummaging for food in a trash heap. I hope this causes us to be thankful for the abundant blessing that we enjoy here in America. When we see these pictures we are sometimes left to wonder what the governments of such nations are doing to alleviate the situation.
As a young boy, I remember seeing a lot of trash heaps all around our neighborhood, mainly because a corrupt and mismanaged local government did not ensure that the trash was collected. We dumped the trash anywhere we pleased. Trash is hardly ever given a second thought because it’s, well, trash. If we deem something valuable, we don’t throw it in the trash bin; on the contrary we protect it and store it away safely.
When something finds its way to the trash, it has lost its value in our eyes. That’s why I read with amazement that the apostle Paul viewed his greatest life achievements as trash, his nationality, his circumcision (an outward sign of the covenant of God), his educational and religious accomplishments, etc. All these he considered trash or garbage. What changed his perspective that the valued things in his life became worthless? What encounter or revelation shifted his value system? Well in Philippians 3 he shares how for the sake of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, he considered everything that was gain to him to be garbage.
“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.” NLT
His life’s achievements were worthless in comparison to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ his Lord.
I am sure all of us, like Paul, can and need to come to the same revelation. That knowing Jesus Christ and living for Him is the most valuable thing in our lives and having our everyday choices reflect this truth. The only time we seem to be unconvinced of this is when we are focused on other things and they cloud our vision of Him.
Beloved, let us not go back to rummaging in the trash heap for past “valuables”, but let’s hold near and dear our daily walk with our Savior, fully convinced that this is eternal life, to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. As we turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full on His wonderful face, the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.