Day 6 – January 6
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11 NKJV
I have a big family and big families can be passionately divided when dad asks “Hey, where should we go for lunch?” Neutral ground for my family is usually a Mexican restaurant. Sure, opinions are still sharply divided over whether tacos, enchiladas or quesadillas are superior but a truce is always drawn when the chips and salsa arrive. Those crispy, triangle-shaped peace treaties piled high in little red baskets are simple, salty and satisfying. So satisfying, in fact, that we always leave the restaurant carrying out boxes and boxes of leftovers because everyone fills up on chips before their meal arrives!
In his book ‘Good to Great’, Jim Collins begins with the sentence, “Good is the enemy of great.” Written over 20 years ago, this seminal work can still be found at the top of bestseller lists for “business strategy”. A meticulous, data-driven study of over 1,400 companies identified 11 unique companies that went from “good” to “great” because they were willing to push past initial success and dig deeper to find much stronger positions. The key takeaway was that many of our institutions in this country often settle for mediocre success because low hanging fruit is safer. It’s easier. It’s satisfying.
Paul’s prayer for the church in Philippi highlights the importance of growing closer in relationship to God. Let’s look at the prayer in reverse. Oh, that we may bring glory and praise to God, shining a light for all men to see. Easily spotted by the fruit of righteousness growing abundantly in our lives. That we may be found pure and blameless in this fallen world because we are able to examine and test all things to separate the excellent from the common. We do this as a result of our love for God. Not a blind, generic love but a love that continues to grow and strengthen as we grow closer to Him through knowledge and discernment of who He is. May this type of love know no limits!
Do you sometimes feel like you’re stuck in the lower gears of faith? Paul’s prayer is a great reminder that God doesn’t want us to grow complacent in our relationship with Him. The closer we grow to Him, the closer we grow into our purpose. We aren’t meant to fill up on chips.
Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to enter into a loving relationship with you. The more we learn about you, the more our purpose comes into focus. You created us for a purpose. Thank you for that! May we continue to grow closer to you through our daily walk with you, keeping in step with your Spirit. Give us eyes to see the things in this life that are of the greatest importance. That we may resist the temptation to sit idle in the GOOD and instead focus our efforts on reaching out to grab onto the GREAT. May the world around us see abundant fruit growing in us. Amen.
Written By: Pastor Jason Mecum