What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (Philippians 3:8-9)
In just two weeks, God took away everything we worship. At least, that’s my memory of the spring of 2020 as COVID-19 was spreading around the world. It was as if God were saying, “You want to worship athletes? I will shut down stadiums and tournaments. You want to worship musicians? I will cancel concerts and close Broadway. You want to worship actors? I will shut down theaters. You want to worship money? I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You want to worship your job? I will shutter your company and send you home.” See what I mean? In just two weeks, God suddenly, one-by-one, took away just about everything we love to worship.
So what was left? Everything! At least, everything that matters. The apostle Paul knew what it was really like to have nothing. He knew what it was truly like to lose everything. Yet, as he sat in prison, he wrote, “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.”
God convinced Paul of a life-changing truth: If he had Jesus his Savior, he had everything he needed. Because if he had Jesus, he had righteousness, forgiveness, and eternal life through faith in Christ.
Here’s an equation for you to remember: Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Sometimes God takes away our wealth and health and jobs so that we can clearly see what we have in him. May God take away the distractions from your life, so that you can focus on the only thing that really matters: Jesus. Because Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
Dear Jesus, I don’t like it when you take things away from me, but I need you to. Please cut away every distraction and idol from my life, so that I can clearly see everything I have in you. Amen.
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