Devotional Thought of the Day:

and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought: 6 Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. 7 He gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. 8 Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross. Phil. 2:5-8 CEV

Do you believe that your sins are forgiven, and that Christ has made a full atonement for them? Then what a joyful Christian you ought to be! How you should live above the common trials and troubles of the world! Since sin is forgiven, can it matter what happens to you now? Luther said, “Smite, Lord, smite, for my sin is forgiven; if thou hast but forgiven me, smite as hard as thou wilt”; and in a similar spirit you may say, “Send sickness, poverty, losses, crosses, persecution, what thou wilt, thou hast forgiven me, and my soul is glad.”

When people talk about Philippians 2, they usually mention the incredible description of Jesus found in verses 6 through 11.  It is an ancient hymn, sometimes called the Carem Christi.

But we forget that it is an invitation.

An invitation to suffering. An invitation to love like Jesus loves.

An invitation to know the love of Christ, to know it so intimately that you don’t reject pain and suffering for the cross, but embrace it, s Jesus did, for the joy that it will bring.

That is the point of that hymn being shared, to help us learn how to embrace the hard things in life. To see them as the opportunity to imitate Jesus!

This is possible for the very reason Spurgeon notes. We realize what it means that we are forgiven, that our relationship with God is perfect and new.  Everything that was broken has been healed, everything that was corrupted was restored.  How amazing this is! How incredible! It can and should overwhelm us as it becomes more clearly revealed.

Even to the point where we “ask for it!”  We ask for the pain, the suffering, whatever it costs to help others come ot know God’s love. For it is worth it, all the suffering, even martyrdom, if through it one person comes ot know the Lord’s love for them.

As we suffer, as life hauls off and wallops us, we begin to understand the cost to Jesus of living us, and that love, not our own strength, sustains us. Not only sustains us, but empowers us as we realize what it all leads to, the vision Paul used in the next chapter,

¹⁰  All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, ¹¹  so that somehow I also may be raised to life. Philippians 3:10-11 (CEV)

I pray that you and I will come to want to suffer and know the power that raised Christ to life. AMEN!

C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).