Christian Living

KNOWING THE TRUE VALUE OF THIS WORLD

by Chi Onwuchekwa
07/12/21
Not For Sale

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There are certain statements that Apostle Paul made in his letters that, in the early days as a believer, often left me baffled; baffled because I couldn’t have sincerely made them myself: statements that left me feeling that there were depths of understanding of life and of things spiritual that he had that I hadn’t the faintest clue about. One of such was “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” – Philippians 1:21. A large number of people are afraid of dying and so I was shocked to see someone who had no fear of death but rather desired that he would depart from this world to be with Christ.

Another of such statement was “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses….” 2 Corinthians 12:10.  I sorrowed over my infirmities; I despaired over persecutions and reproaches! Why then, I wondered was he taking pleasure in them. 

Anyway, today I want to share my thoughts on one of such statements and I take it from the New Living Translation:

“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…” – Philippians 3:8

The KJV uses the word ‘dung’ in place of garbage.

When I first read and meditated on this over two decades ago I wondered what it was about the knowledge of Christ that made all of the wealth of this world like dung. What exactly did he gain that was so profound that everything of this world became like garbage? 

I knew then that whatever it was I didn’t have it. To me at that time, my worth and value were pretty much tied to my earthly assets and accomplishments (well, the little I had of it) such that the loss of any of it – money, job, house, expensive material assets, the respect of friends and foes… left me with feelings of deep loss and sadness.

I wish I could say that after over 20 years, I have finally understood what it was that he gained. Humbly, I affirm that I know just a jot more than I knew then, well, enough to perhaps have been able to yield (imperfectly though as deep regrets and sadness are proof that I am still clinging on here and there) to God’s pruning process to wean me of the things of this world.

You see, an error in our value system can leave us spending all of our time and efforts on earth labouring, gathering and investing in things we might most likely discover only in the afterlife are of no eternal value. If we do not grasp what he grasped well enough to forfeit and label the things of this world as garbage, we might not understand that the only worth to all that we labour for on earth is in our ability to invest them in things of eternal value. 

The question is, if just like Job we get stripped of all of our earthly possessions and accomplishments, would we still feel that we have anything left? If no, that is an indication that we have yet to lay hold of Christ to such depth and dimensions that the things of this world pale in comparison to Him; it is a sign that a large proportion of all that we have sought and laboured for is only of earthly value; it means that we have invested all of our treasures here, in a place where ‘… thieves can steal and moths can eat.’ It means that when this world is over, we may have little or nothing of value on the other side of life. 

If yes, that’s great! The next question then is, what exactly are we so confident that we have that makes all of our earthly assets pale in comparison to it? What do we have that if all of our earthly assets were taken away, we would feel no sense of loss?

In Matthew 13:45-46 Jesus said:

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

What is it about the kingdom of God that is so precious that we feel no sense of loss in letting go of all of our earthly possessions to buy it?

It is very important for us to give attention to this so we do not get deceived into believing that our earthly assets and accomplishments represent our true worth in God’s kingdom both here and in eternity. In Luke 12:15 Jesus said “… Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Again I ask, if we are stripped of all our earthly possessions like Job, what do we have left, that in comparison makes all of our earthly assets like ‘dung?’ 

Before I sign off I feel led to clarify a few things:

1. This article does not propose or support poverty. Of course not! We need billions to evangelise, reach the unreached and disciple won souls, we need billions to care for the poor and those in need.

2.Wealth in the context of this article covers financial wealth and success in all other areas of life.

3. Our material wealth of itself is not a threat to our salvation and ability to lay hold on eternal life; the concern is in our attitude to being rich and our ability to surrender all that we have to God’s will and purpose.

May we truly, truly lay hold of it, that ‘thing’ about the kingdom of God that is of such great worth that everything of this world pales in comparison to it; and having obtained it may our grip on it be so firm and consistent that we not only bask in its glory here on earth, but more importantly in eternity in Jesus’ most precious name! Amen! 

Chinwe Onwuchekwa
WORLD REVIVE MINISTRIES

www.worldrevive.org

[email protected]

© 12^th July 2021