Philippians 3:8-9

“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish 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 and is by faith. “

As a Pharisee, Paul had a pretty good gig: power, prestige, and position. Yet, once he came to faith in Christ, all that glittered was no longer gold. In fact, it all became like rubbish to him in comparison to his salvation and increasing knowledge of the Lord.

No…I’m not going to bash nice cars, fancy houses and vacation homes…unless they tend to be what you are living for. There is nothing wrong with a nice lifestyle, as long as it does not become the object of your affections. Unfortunately, most of us tend to get more worked up about our material lives than we do our spiritual lives. Self-interest tends to trump God-interest or others-interest. More often than not, all that glitters for us remains gold.

Paul set aside his earthly treasures as well as his earthly achievements, religious and otherwise, in his call to follow and preach Christ and Him crucified. In doing so, he cut the chains that so easily entangle all of us…which freed him up to live a life of deep meaning in service to the King and to others.

What glitters for you? What holds the keys to your heart and mind? Do you consider all that the world has to offer as something to be achieved…or something to be set aside? God called you to His Son in order to set you free from all of that. Have you gone along with that plan?