Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
This passage is confusing to many of us. We ask How could Paul put striving to keep the Ten Commandments and being religious on the negative side? It may not get him to Heaven, but at least those are good things. Paul said I count all these things but loss because those were the things I trusted in that kept me from the Lord.
I had an engagement in South Florida and rented a car. It was a beautiful car so I turned on the stereo to some gorgeous music. The road I was on was good too. After about two hours, I said, I should be there already. But I was on the wrong road. A good car and good music might be good but were bad because they distracted me, and I went in the wrong direction. That’s what religion is without the Lord. The worst form of badness is human goodness, if human goodness keeps you from salvation. What are some good things that could distract us from God? What things are distracting you from God? How can you address those distractions? Write down a list of good things that could potentially distract you from God. Circle the ones that you struggle with the most. Pray and surrender those things to God.
This devotional was written by Pastor/teacher Adrian Rogers. The Copyright owner is Love Worth Finding. Used with written permission. You may contact lwf.org and be blessed directly and freely by Biblical teaching.
