“… For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (Philippians 3:8)
Paul was a thirsty man. But when Jesus became his Shepherd his enormous want was satisfied. No longer was he interested in the broken cisterns that had failed him in the past; Christ was now his life and he was drinking from the “Fountain of living waters.”
Even as a seasoned apostle, Paul had desires to be loved, appreciated and commended. “For I ought to have been commended of you” (2 Cor. 12:11) But what he would have liked and should have received from human beings would not turn him bitter. He let every “shortfall” he experienced in the world of men drive him to an even deeper fullness in Christ.
As we grow older, our desires do not go away. In fact, they can grow more intense, as we mourn over what we’ve lost, or pine away over what we’ve never had. Our affections can fasten upon things beneath, and we can lose sight of our first love; or, like Paul, we can reset our mind on things above, where Christ, who is our Life, sits at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus will soon reappear to utterly abolish this earth’s idols. To stay faithful in this day of earthly want, we must count all things dung that we could count dear. We do so to possess and cling to the pearl of great price, who is worth more than all we have or ever could have in this life.
Have and hold Jesus today, tomorrow, and forever. To win Him, be willing to go without all else.