A Nice Thought

7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! Philippians 3:7-11

This was my passage that I read today. As soon as I finished reading it this morning, a warmth crept over me. It just made me smile. I don't know that I've ever really paid attention to the end before. I want to suffer with death, so that I might experience resurrection. Wow. I don't think of death as a particularly welcoming thing. Here we see there is a reason to welcome death. It still doesn't make me want to die or anything... but I can see this being a verse to cling to when being faced with death.

I also like the verse right before that. God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. Being with God depends on faith. If we lack faith, we are going nowhere. The best example of faith I am thinking of this morning is found in Matthew.

21 for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”

22 Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

This woman had faith in Jesus so much so that she knew that if she could just touch his robe, she would be healed of her affliction. He felt the faith within her immediately, and she was healed. Imagine the joy that she experienced, knowing that she had found her faith in the right thing, and furthermore, to be healed of a horrible disease because of that faith. We too can experience that joy through our faith. And while it may very well be someday the gift of healing. For now we can know that our faith is what is going to get us in the door to heaven.

The way to God is through our faith. There's no way around it. I pray that my faith may be strengthened as strong as it can.