On Changed Ambitions

WHEN IT’S ALL BEEN SAID AND DONE
Robin Mark

When it’s all been said and done, there is just one thing that matters.
Did I do my best to live for truth?  Did I live my life for you?

When it’s all been said and done, all my treasures will mean nothing.
Only what I’ve done for love’s reward will stand the test of time.

Lord, your mercy is so great that you look beyond our weakness
And find purest gold in miry clay, turning sinners into saints.

I will always sing your praise, here on earth and Heaven after,
For you’ve shown me Heaven’s my true home.
When it’s all been said and done, You’re my life when life is done.

When it’s all been said and done, there is just one thing that matters.
Did I do my best to live for truth?  Did I live my life for you? 
Lord, I’ll live my life for You.

Philippians 3: 7-11 Phillips Yet every advantage that I had gained I considered lost for Christ’s sake. Yes, and I look upon everything as loss compared with the overwhelming gain of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. For his sake I did in actual fact suffer the loss of everything, but I considered it useless rubbish compared with being able to win Christ. For now my place is in Him, and I am not dependent upon any of the self-achieved righteousness of the Law. God has given me that genuine righteousness which comes from faith in Christ. How changed are my ambitions! Now I long to know Christ and the power shown by his resurrection: now I long to share his sufferings, even to die as he died, so that I may perhaps attain as he did, the resurrection from the dead.

Observation

“How changed are my ambitions!”   The Apostle Paul lost much.  He was a Pharisee of high esteem and position, a student of Gamaliel, one of the most highly regarded teachers of Judaism and the Law.  Paul made it his mission to persecute the followers of Jesus, considered a dangerous heretic by religious authorities.  Paul’s conversion to Christianity would have obliterated all he had gained in his old life and accomplishments to leave him now marked as a dangerous heretic.   He counted the loss of the “useless rubbish” of rooting his worth and significance in worldly accomplishments as gain because he now found his significance and worth in truly serving God.  “I look upon everything as loss compared with the overwhelming gain of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord.”

Getting to this place in our lives is part of the sanctification process – that pruning away of the old growth branches of our lives to allow for new growth in godliness.  This process takes time, effort, commitment and sacrifice.  It is our lifelong pursuit from the moment of embracing our redemption in Christ.  It is not easy to let go of the recognition and even praise from our families, our peers, our society, for achievements that make sense to them.  It is not easy to exchange our achievements that mark success in our social sphere to become fruitful in the Kingdom of God.  It was not easy for Paul to lose it all.  It was almost unbearable for Jesus to bear the pain, suffering and shame of the Cross, but He considered it worth doing for our sakes.  If we are asked to give up our position, power, and praise, are we willing to bear the shame and sacrifice required to say “yes” to God’s plan and purpose for each of our lives?

Impact on Me

“We are called to be fruitful – not successful, not productive, not accomplished. Success comes from strength, stress, and human effort. Fruitfulness comes from vulnerability and the admission of our own weakness.” ~ Henri Nouwen

I think about people who are willing to be humbled, stripped of earthly successes and even shamed for the sake of allowing others to see Jesus living in and through them.  I try to be careful not to weigh my responses by what benefit I will gain from my actions.  This includes doing things to gain kudos from my Christian community.  False humility is really pride in another costume when I allow others to lift up my accomplishments, my kindnesses, my sacrifices (my own successes) rather than thanking the Lord for what He has done in and through me (my fruitfulness).  There is nothing wrong with receiving recognition for acts of  generosity, service and exercise of my skills, but there is something wrong when the recognition is the motivation behind giving in the first place.  This is one of those fine lines where I have to make sure that I am listening to the Lord and not the deceiver who is exceedingly sly. 

Devotion

Lord God, All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Father of Mercy and Grace, I come humbly before You in gratitude that You allow me to be one of Your instruments in bringing Your Kingdom on earth.  I can do nothing good that doesn’t come from You.  I place my skills and abilities, my time and energy, on Your altar for Your use.  I pray that You will watch and guide me so I can stay out of the way of the Holy Spirit accomplishing His will and purpose in and through me.  Never let me dare to steal any of Your praise by forgetting that I am just the instrument in Your hand.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.