MAY 30 – I PRESS ON!

“Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).

There is one path that you have to follow eagerly in Christian life. It is the one shown by the footsteps of Jesus Christ. It is the path that transforms a man in the image of Christ. See how humbly Paul, the apostle, says, “Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on”.

The Christian life has to grow step by step. It is the one in which more and more grace is to be received from God. It is the life that has to be lead with faith and get strengthened further and further. It is the one that has to cross over into deep prayerful life and receive glory after glory. Nobody could say, “I have attained, and I have perfected already”.

Take, for example, you admit your children in school. They cannot finish studying all standards within a year. From the lowest class, they advance one year after the other. They gain knowledge, wisdom, discretion, and they cheerfully continue to study and go ahead.

Similarly, God gives you lessons and experiences every day in your spiritual life. He removes the shortfalls from your life, similar to how alloy gets removed from gold during the cleansing process. When His love is tasted every day, He keeps on taking you into further depths of His love.

There are beginning and end to the Spiritual life. While receiving the remission of sins is the beginning of the spiritual life, to stay perfect as Christ is the end. Paul, the apostle, says, “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:28).

Christianity will not become perfect in just Salvation or baptism. It is not so that we will come out of everything once we get anointed with the Holy Spirit. Humble yourself before God and accept His yoke. The longing, desire and thirst to attain perfection in Christ should be there in your heart always. Dear children of God, will you continue to move ahead eagerly in the path in which you have to go?

To meditate: “… let us go on to ^[perfection.  And this we will do if God permits” (Hebrews 6:2, 3).