MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS BAILEY
“Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One), (Philippians 3:8 AMP)
I love the Pauline Epistles! Christ had indeed grabbed hold of Paul and lost all contact with the love of this world. Jesus even told Martha that Mary “chose the best part” when Martha went to Him complaining about being overloaded; Mary praying too much. Years ago, on finding the school floors dirty, I drug the principal, head of maintenance, and the worker over to look at the floors. I grabbed the broom out of the worker’s hands and pulled up the carpet and begin to sweep arrogantly. That night the Lord rewound the tape of the day before me and I saw that it was not what we would call “walking in love”. When I found out the next day, the worker quit I got all the more embarrassed.
Gill has a great way of explaining this verse: “Knowing Christ it is not of ourselves, nor by the assistance of men; it is not in the book of nature, nor in the schools of the philosophers; it is not of earth, nor earthly, but it comes from afar, from above, from heaven, from God the Father of lights; it is a free grace gift, a distinguishing one, and is very comprehensive, unspeakable, and unchangeable: and as to the object of it, it is Christ, the chiefest among ten thousands; who made the heavens, earth, and seas, and all that in them are, the sun, moon, and stars, men and beasts, birds and fishes, fossils, minerals, vegetables, and everything in nature; and therefore the knowledge of him must be superior to the knowledge of everything else; and, which adds to its excellency, it makes Christ precious, engages faith and confidence in him, influences the life and conversation, humbles the soul, and creates in it true pleasure and satisfaction; when all other knowledge fills with self-love, pride, and vanity, and just increases sorrow.”
You might ask what does this have to do with you sweeping some floor arrogantly? I had lost sight of Christ and resorted to the worries and cares of this world. Yes, the school floors need to be clean, bills paid and kids taken care of. But we need to chose the best part and treat Him as if He was the worker cleaning that floor. He is the child that needs a little extra help with homework and most of all He loves to give us the grace to go about our day knowing that it’s all for Christ and He makes all things indeed precious.