Scripture Reference: Philippians 3 : 1-7

Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 

² Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. ³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴ though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. ⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.”

There are many who boast in their self-accomplishments, their accrual of wealth, their possessions and in short in themselves, but it starts and it ends there. When the people of God choose to boast in the Lord they are boasting first and foremost in the One who is worthy of all praise, they are boasting in the Eternal and therefore their boasting has eternal implications, and their boasting is an exercise in faith, not in themselves but in the God who never fails!   

We who believe need not put any confidence in the flesh. Whatever we might gain in this world, we can also lose in this world, but the gains that are made through faith in Jesus Christ will never be lost, they will never grow old, they will never wither and die, and they will not be diminished by time. 

In my morning Bible reading today I read about the parable of the sower and the various kinds of soil, Mark 4. What stood out to me in this reading (and again this is something I have read literally hundreds of times and yet God’s Word is still speaking to me profoundly!) was the soil that had thorns choked out the fruitfulness of the seed that was growing. These thorns illustrate “the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things”. 

Man that message hit home! Oh how easy it is to become so distracted by the things of this world that our faith in Christ and therefore our investments in the Kingdom of God become choked out by those very distractions. How many of us are living the life of Samson? Endued with tremendous power and potential and yet so distracted by the allurements of this world that we do not even begin to realize our true potential in Christ Jesus?! God has not chosen you, raised you up and seated you in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus for you to become powerless as you betray your heritage and rightful calling in Christ Jesus so that you can “live a little” in this life! God does not intend for you to live a little, He intends for you to live abundantly! 

Boast in Christ Jesus! Believe His Word! Live the faith! And you will be fruitful beyond comprehension!