Suffering for His glory

11/01/12 Why would Abraham leave his home and relatives and willingly go to an unknown place? Why would Moses stand before the mightiest man of his day and willingly spend forty years in the wilderness with a people that didn’t like him? What about Joshua, David, the prophets, Esther, and many more? If space permitted I could tell you of a host of men and women who voluntarily endured much suffering. But why would they? The apostle Paul says it well in Philippians 3:7-8 (NLT) 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 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. Knowing the Lord by experience was infinitely valuable. Again in the words of Paul the church is “to the praise of His glory.” Eph.1:12. Abraham, Moses, Paul and a multitude of others saw enough of God’s glory that when they compared what they were losing to what they were gaining no amount of suffering could compare with the glory that would soon follow. The Lord Jesus Christ is so infinitely valuable that all else in comparison is garbage (literally dung). When you know the Lord Jesus and by faith you see glimpses of His glory, you will willingly and joyfully give up whatever is required in order to gain more of the One who is of infinite worth. And when this joy of knowing the Lord is in your heart it will soon be expressed in praise for the One who is so praiseworthy. Prayer: Lord, I want to know you, really know you. Show me Your glory and I will joyfully tell others. In the infinitely valuable name of Jesus, amen.