I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12
For many, 2020 felt like a season of pressing on through growing hardship and difficulty. Just because we refreshed our calendars doesn’t mean this season is over. Our spiritual journey continues and we need to keep up our endurance.
Unlike Paul, we are not locked up or imprisoned for our faith, yet we may feel stuck in other ways. Like Paul, we hold onto Jesus and his joyous promise of grace and peace – no matter where we find ourselves this year. We don’t know what’s ahead, but perhaps our hearts will be more prepared for whatever the Lord allows, in part because we endured 2020.
As Paul sits in lockdown, he reflects on the good and successful things he’s attained in life and concludes… they’ve been useless. “Garbage” he calls him (Philippians 3:8). He also reflects on the difficulties he’s endured and concludes… they’ve served to experience the nearness of Christ. Paul’s hindsight in prison has refreshed his perspective on becoming like Christ. He’s found himself participating in suffering with Jesus. By enduring the hard stuff, he’s gotten to experience the power of Jesus’ resurrection as well.
We, too, carry resurrection hope and power with us into 2021. Jesus conquered evil and death so he might hold us through our suffering and carry us into resurrection with him. Therefore, we let go of anything we’ve been grasping onto in this life so we might hold onto Jesus for dear life. What might you need to let go of this year to hold fast to Jesus in 2021?
By Yvonne Biel
