Pressing On
In Philippians 3:12 and 13, Paul makes it clear that having understood that he had not attained maturity in the absolute sense, he isn’t giving up. “ I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”
The thrust of this is in terms of fulfilling God’s purpose, though the core of our relationship with God is, first and foremost, a relationship. That said, He has drawn us to Himself for a reason. He has a purpose in mind for the church in general and individual believers in particular. We read in other passages in the New Testament that we’re called to good works. We are not saved by good works, but we are called to good works.
Paul had a very clear sense of his calling. He didn’t seem to struggle too often with knowing what God wanted him to do. He made it a cornerstone of his life to try to lay hold of, or to apprehend that for which God had apprehended him. God had stopped him physically, on the road to Damascus and hauled him out of the Jewish system and said, “Now you are going to serve Me.” He had specific plans for Paul and Paul desperately wanted to fulfill that calling.
I believe that this calling includes two aspects: character and service. You don’t have to read very much of the New Testament to get a clear sense of what we are called to. God has character expectations of all Christians equally - men, women, young, old, slaves or free, Sythians, barbarians, Romans, all of us.
It becomes a little trickier when we start to explore the specific area of service in which God wants you to invest your developing Christian character. Some people, like Paul, have a clear sense of calling, but for others, it is more general. The catch here is that Paul says those who are maturing in Christ will continue to press on, will continue to have zeal to be what God wants them to be and to do what God wants them to do. It’s easy to be distracted. Sometimes our attention wanders to other good things than to what God has called us to.
Sometimes we settle for a certain level of character development that is acceptable to our peers. We think to ourselves that we are not so bad. One day, in heaven, we’ll be perfect, in the meantime, down here, we’ll settle for “acceptable to other Christians.”
Sometimes we put off active service. We have families, careers, interests and obligations. Then we get a little older and realize that we didn’t take into account that youthful energy does not last forever. We get to a point where we feel we’ve put in our shift and shouldn’t be expected to do more than coast to the top of the clock.
But Paul says that, as a mature and maturing Christian, he wanted to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus had laid hold of him. The implication of verse 15 is that all of us as mature and maturing Christians will want to do the same.
Check up question 7: Do I have a clear sense of what God wants me to do with my life and am I pursuing that whole-heartedly?
Ron Hughes
© November 2008
