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Grabbing Hold of the Goal

Philippians 3:12

Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

Paul stated his goal in verse 10 of that same chapter: “… to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.” Paul’s desire was to know Christ intimately and to be transformed into His image. He wanted his own desires to become the same as those of Christ.

The phrase, “to take hold,” here gives the implication of reaching out to grab something. Paul acknowledged that Jesus Christ had reached out and grabbed him, therefore, he wanted to reach out and grab the goal of knowing Christ intimately and becoming like Him, even in death. Christ has reached out and grabbed us, saving us from eternal hell and offering us a more abundant life than we could ever imagine on our own. When we reach out to grab hold of Him as He has us, we partake in both His resurrection power and in His sufferings. We become one with Him.

Make your goal today to reach out and grab all Christ has for you.  We will certainly experience suffering in this world, and if we draw closer to Christ in the midst of those sufferings, we will see His resurrection power manifested in our lives.

I love the way the Message Bible explains verse 10:

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself.

I want to let go of the inferior stuff to grab hold of the very best. I’m tired of a “lesser than” existence when I know Christ is “more than” anything we could ever hope or imagine. Walking in resurrection power is not for the faint of heart, but it is worth everything to gain Christ. We won’t reach it fully in this lifetime, but we will get there. We have His word on it.

Have a blessed day!

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