One of the endearing things about small children is their keen awareness of their dependence on others. My youngest son is two years old. And while he is certainly glad to try many things on his own, there are still many instances throughout the day where he looks at me with his innocent eyes and asks, “Daddy, you help me?” Of course, there is no way for me to resist his genuine request for help!
As children get older, they develop a greater sense of independence. In many ways, this is a good thing. We want our children to exercise appropriate independence as we train them for adulthood. The problem is that as children develop that independence, they often swing too far and think they don’t need help for anything. Far too often, I have been told by one of my children that I am not needed for a task that I clearly am needed! I can remember when I was a teenager how I thought I knew pretty much everything there was to know about living. Boy, was I wrong! But, you couldn’t have convinced me otherwise. I literally thought I had arrived. It only took a few more years of difficult trials and disappointment to remind me that I still had much to learn.
That’s what Paul is talking about when he says, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Philippians 3:12). He knew that there was still much more growth needed in his life.
Paul has just finished describing why he, of all people, had reason to boast in his outward achievements. He was not just an Israelite, but a Pharisee, more zealous than everyone, blameless according to the law’s standards. From an outward perspective, Paul had arrived. He was the cream of the crop, the best of the best. But, then he makes this statement: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:7-8).
Compared to knowing Jesus Christ, everything else was considered garbage. That’s a radical perspective. Paul had a life-changing encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. That was thirty years prior to writing the letter to the church at Philippi. And after growing with Jesus Christ for all those years, he still can say, I just want to know Christ more. And whatever it costs me, I want to rely on him, rest in him, trust him, obey him more, and treasure him more.
Now, in v. 12, Paul humbly admits, he has not arrived in this. “Not that I have already obtained this or am perfect.” I so appreciate his honesty here. Even the great apostle Paul could admit he hadn’t reached his goal of making Jesus his greatest treasure at every moment of every day. But, that was his goal. And he says, “I press on to make it my own.” He was not willing to settle for a past experience of Jesus Christ. He wanted to know Christ more deeply. He wanted to run after Christ because Christ is his ultimate reward.
The reality is, the more you know Christ, the more you will sense your need to know him more. Do you sense your need to know Christ more today? If not, there are likely good things in your life that you have made into ultimate things, and they are distracting you from growing spiritually. If you think you are doing fine spiritually, something has lulled you into a sense of complacency. It could be sin, or guilt, or even just the demands of living in a fallen world.
But, what if those things are meant to drive you to Christ? What if the trials you are experiencing are part of what it means for you to share in the fellowship of Jesus’ suffering (Philippians 3:10)? God will use everything in your life to remind you that you will always be growing. The more you humbly accept that, the more you will run to Jesus as your only hope. And when you run to Jesus as your greatest treasure, you find that he is the only one who has already forgiven you when you fail. And he is the only one who satisfies your deepest longings.
Christian, Jesus is your ultimate prize. Will you go to God today in humble dependence asking, “Daddy, you help me?” He will never refuse your plea for more of him (Luke 11:13).
