The value and Cost of Knowing God

7But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. 8More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,a the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (Philippians 3:10) 

[Message Translation: 10-11 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. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.]

Thoughts: Paul considered all human pedigree, degrees, status as nothing compared to the great power of Christ.  He counted it as garbage compared to Christ.  Jesus told the parable of the Pearl of Great Price where a man gave everything he had to buy the precious pearl, and considered it a great bargain.  No amount of stuff, no house, boat, car, popular applause are worth losing your soul- or especially not knowing your great Maker who loves you.  As Paul put it, the "surpassing excellence of knowing Christ" is something no one can take away, and that has eternal value.  If someone said they would trade you 1,000 pencils for one stock certificate that was worth a million dollars, would you do so because 1,000 is greater than one?  Would a hundred plastic toy ten inch boats be worth more than one 100 foot yacht because there are a hundred of them?  Yet, we get so enthralled in counting our little toys that we underestimate the value of the eternal, loving, all present God.  Paul says knowing God is His true quest and main desire.  Jesus said (John 17:3)- "and this is eternal life- to know you the only true God."  We also think we have to know all about something before we can go forward with a decision.  How much of a lake do you have to know before you start to swim in it?  Do you have to know how many feet of shore it has, how many fish are inside it, how cold the water temperature is (though that might help), or how many other people are in the lake right now?  No, you just get in.  In fact, the more you try to figure it out, the more you become unsure about getting in.  We put too much stock in our own prideful knowledge and not enough stock in the knowledge of God.  We also value our time doing other things as better than our time pursuing God.  That too, shows a twist in values.  In this coronavirus time, we have an opportunity to get our priorities right.   Pursue knowing God.  He wants you to call Him Father.  He wants you to know that He loves you.  He wants you to be all in- jump in with Him!

Prayer: Lord, let me count all the secondary things in life as rubbish compared the primary thing of knowing you