Day 3168 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Philippians 3:8 NIV

A life lived outside the confines the common pursuit of cauterized considerations may bring a freedom not found inside commonality.

Yet there's this common thread strung throughout society that has all of us in some way entangled inside an outlook that has us lost looking for something special in a place that's passing. We're seeking passion in a land all but void of life! It's this tragic pastime that has us losing time that we can't get back in exchange for things not worth what we're asked to give away.

But we just keep giving. Little by little, inch by inch, concession after concession, devotion just gets drown out by the downfall as we fall down before a world promising us everything we're supposed to need in exchange our agreeing to be who they want us to be as deemed worthy of such reward. And like the proverbial sheep being led where none should want to go, fall in line is all we know.

Perhaps it's time these dogs we've become learn a new trick that doesn't involve having to trade.

See, that's all life has become for the most part. It's a trade. A bargain. A bickering back and forth aiming for a middle ground where everyone gains something at the expense of something they're willing to forfeit. But how often do we look at what we're getting in return for what we're giving or what we're giving in exchange for all we're not getting?

Probably as rare an occasion as the world wants it to be.

Because we live in this land of consumption, so too have our hearts learned to focus only on what benefits we're gleaning, what gains we're gaining, what rain we're avoiding, the pain we're not feeling. It's all this half-perspective a life being half-lived while souls are sold at half-price. All so that we can gain what the world says a life should have without feeling the need to cling to what this world claims is unnecessary.

That's the danger in listening to the wrong voices. We hear messages that slowly soothe away our better judgements. It's just like that word, judgement. That's widely considered an entirely unloving idea less than ideal and fully unbecoming a better person. Not supposed to judge. Anything. Anyone. Ever. No judging. But that's a false concession we've tackled plenty in the past.

The point being that this world has plenty of ideas as to who we should be and how our lives should be lived down to the considerations as to what these lives should be filled with. And, Scripture doing what Scripture does, we've all lived the wrong side of that line which teaches us that bad company corrupts good character. We've felt it, or at least have the opportunity to should we refuse to adhere to the blinders many insist we see through.

Truth is that there's little here that's of absolute necessity in life. And the few things that are rather vital are entirely nonmonetary, nonmaterial, noncommercial and uncommon. Money isn't what gives life its worth. Fame doesn't define our identity. Acceptance isn't an acceptable basis for anyone to construct themselves. Possessions will all be dispossessed as our souls are inevitably repossessed by the One who entrusted them to us for this short time.

Yes, all we see is one day going back to the place from which it came. It's a promise made clear in Scripture in that, "we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it." It's a certainty, an undeniable guarantee. Nothing we gain in this world can come with us. Problem is that the opposing statement isn't necessarily the same.

Because what we lose in this world can carry on into the outcome that's still to be decided only after we've left this ground.

And I fear that that's a consideration all but unconsidered anymore. Because again, how often do we think about what we're giving away? How often do we sit down to truly evaluate the current condition of these souls we're carrying? Do we ever take stock of what's still to come, or are we not usually more preoccupied with inventorying the stock of junk piling up around us?

Yesterday we talked about this hope we have and the corresponding courage to chase it down despite having to do so amongst a world filled with people who think us foolish for this faith. This hope, this belief, this insistence upon a continued existence bridging here into forever is a concept only possible through thoughts not our own.

No, we got old in this place that discourages growing up; a fact shown in that we're not supposed to believe in anything anymore. Fairy tales are for children, and well, to many our faith is but one more fantasy. It's a mindset not set in the ways deemed to make sense by those who think their ideas work better all because they find more worldly success through their completion.

Sadly, by all accounts, completion is exactly what's used as a standard means to measure success. And well, our faith is never complete. Our walk following Christ is never finished. We will not know the fullness of Him until we are kneeling before Him basking in His glory and begging for His mercy. And this world fascinated by finish lines just doesn't understand that. Because they can't measure their success, and if it can't be measured then it can't be proven.

And if it can't be proven then there's no trophy in which to boast.

Do we not yet understand why this faith follows a path narrowing as if demanding our discarding of many things, ideas, wants, wishes, dreams, plans, goals, perfections? Seems like He's trying to tell us that we know only too much of all the wrong ideas. And well, before He can break through, we have to agree to be broken down into a place where we can finally see that we've allowed our eyes to see only the wrong ideas.

We've so much to let go and most of it is even bigger than the treasures we've found and come to love. See, we get stuck struggling to surrender things! How are we going to consider ideas that come from another heart that beats like ours have forgotten to? If we can't bring ourselves to throw away trinkets and toys and tarnished old knickknacks, how are we ever going to get rid of the corrupted ideologies we've fallen for?

How are we going to break beyond the lies we've believed? How are we going to believe things the world has taught us are lies? If we can't get rid of things, consider them garbage not worth time nor space in our lives, how can we ever find room for the things that we need in our lives?

See, Christ died for full custody. He's not a roommate sort of Savior, and our thinking that He's okay with sharing room, time, attention in our lives with all our other priorities is simply unacceptable. He gave His life for us to have ours back! If we keep giving these lives to all these other things that have no meaning past the fleeting, then we're all but denying He is who He claims to be.

Because if He is who He says He is and has really done what He said He did, then that should be worth our losing everything else. We should be ecstatic to wipe from our lives everything that dares turn our attention away from Him. We should crave the chance to find new things that we can get rid of so that we can become more filled with all that He is.

But we have to change to get there. Part of us has to die in order for that change to become possible. And well, if we struggle to throw away material possessions or monetary opportunities, how are we going to be willing to lay down our lives?

See, this faith is worth more than we tend to give it. We're so used to this world wherein everything has a price-tag that helps us understand its value comparatively. The more expensive something is the more it's worth, right? But to what can we compare eternity? What price can we put on redemption? How much more valuable is salvation compared to a vacation? Comparing doesn't work in this case.

And since that's the case, we need to maybe consider coming to terms with the fact that maybe our priorities are a little disheveled. Maybe there are a few too many considerations being considered. Perhaps we're trying a bit too hard to stay here for us to truly race for the Son.

Maybe we need to ask for new eyes that help us see real worth, because maybe our own have been stained by a society only in the business of selling away all that’s truly priceless.

The surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus. Surpassing. Supreme. Superior. Unchallenged. Unwavering. Uncompromising. Incomparable. This chance we have to know Christ as our Lord and Savior is truly worth more than this world has to give because He gave His life to open unto us a life not bound by the boundaries of this world. He calls us into forever, but it's not just a period of time unending.

It's peace unending. Joy unending. Rest finally from all the toils and trials that make this life hard. A forever filled with fulfillment, something we've not known in these lives as it does not exist here. There can be no fulfillment in a place that cannot span the fullness of forever. This world is passing away and so too our time in it. How dare we give anything here anywhere near the devotion we give to our Father!

This is all garbage. The toys and trophies will be tossed in the trash when we're not here to play with them anymore. All the jobs will be left to be filled by others once we're permanently retired. The cars and houses and clothes will return to elements of which they're built when we're not here maintaining their worth. Opinions will fade when His Word proves the final say. Yes, everything in and of this world will stay in and of this world.

And that's why we should accept this ticket out of here, even though the passage costs everything we've tried to have and hold.

Because it's worth it.

Not because we gain a bunch of things right away. In fact, as we've talked about recently, a lot of what we gain by accepting Christ and surrendering all of ourselves to Him is rather challenging. We'll be hated and persecuted, all the things of which we talk all the time. The life of a follower of Christ isn't easy. Not meant to be. Because it brings a reward that's not of this world, and so, while we remain in this world, our reward remains in waiting.

But that's the gain. We gain a promise in which to hope. We gain a forever in which we cannot fail. We find a Father so faithful that He will not let us go despite the world demanding we come back to them and their party. We find this courage to let go of everything, all so that we're not left trying to hold onto anything that might keep us from reaching as far as possible for as much of Him as we can possibly get.

What is the surpassing worth in your life? Is it what the world finds worthwhile? The money and the fame and the mansions filled with evidence that you're here? Or is it the joy in knowing that you don't have to chase all those things only to still leave them behind? That's what I find most exciting. Not what I can have here but what I can lose here that will make up there all the more amazing.

Because I don't want to reach the end of my life and look at a bunch of things I feel unready to leave behind or let go. No, I want to look at this life and smile as I shake the last little bit of dust. Yes, I want to fight this good fight and die like a soldier going home, not a guy leaving his home behind.

Friends, this world will continue telling us all about all we need to be all which is all we're apparently supposed to be in order to be living what are deemed to be lives worth living. It's nonsense. It's distraction. It's this great big lie that simply needs as many as possible to believe it so that none who believe it have to realize that they're losing their lives in exchange for absolutely nothing.

Just know that if it's found here, it stays here. Please don't let your hope be among those things lost when we're asked to move on.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold