PRESSING FORWARD Devotion 2 of 12

"Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12-14)

Spiritual Development

This is becoming more like Christ, the predestinated purpose of God. "For whom he did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). The character is thus refined by exposure to the "light of the glory of God" as seen "in the face of Christ Jesus" (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:6). That is, as we are preoccupied with the Lord Jesus Himself, and are caught up in the divine purpose that can be realized only through Him, a moral transformation takes place within. That transformation is nothing less than an adaptation to the world to come. As a result of receiving the grace of God, the individual delights in learning to "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, while "living "righteously, soberly, and godly in this present world" (Tit. 2:11-12). Our text sets forth a situation that is both challenging and necessary. It reveals a singularity of objective, and the sustained effort required to attain it. Faith does not change its goal. It often requires the adjustment of ones commitment and effort, but never an alteration of the goal. That is the nature of life in Christ. "One thing" dominates throughout the life of the child of God. "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple" (Psa. 27:4). "But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42). "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before" (Phil. 3:13). It is that controlling factor that is our present theme.

-- TOMORROW: PAUL'S INTENSE DEVOTION --