At the end of the year, we are told to slow down and smell the roses, to remember what was important to us during the previous twelve months and reflect on those things.
What that really means is to pay attention to the small stuff. Enjoy the hours before sunrise and the small moments just after sunset.
The coffee brewing can be as satisfying as the coffee drinking.
Take time to go to the beach. Push your daughter on the swing. Read to your son. Take the family camping. Hang out together. Learn to treasure people and experiences, not just a future that may never be there for us.
That doesn’t apply to our walk with Jesus. We must be focused on Christian excellence, the goal of the cross, and extending the offer of salvation to all who will listen to our cry.
It’s called Goalpost Christianity. It’s when Jesus is all that matters.
Philippians 3:12-14 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. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
This is Paul speaking, an educated man with credentials to support his right to success in whatever endeavor he attempted. Yet, he counts only one thing as true and important, the goal of the call and will of Christ.
Let’s break down Paul’s goals in Christ:
1. Paul wants to achieve perfection in Jesus. “I press to make it my own.”
2. Paul disregards the plans and dreams that drive others. “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.”
3. Paul’s only focus is to spread the gospel of Christ. “I press on toward the goal for the prize.”
No cost was too great for Paul. Family. Riches. Position in society. It was all for nothing if Jesus was not first in everything he did.
That’s Goalpost Christianity. We live for Jesus, for his will to be foremost in every endeavor we undertake.
When Jesus is our focus, everything else pales into insignificance.
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Code: FGO.E.27.20b.vp.esv