Oswald Chambers reminds us in one of his devotions that “we are not here to work for God because we have chosen to do so, but because God has ‘laid hold of’ us”. On Wednesday nights we are studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In Chapter 3:12 Paul writes, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
Our normal way of thinking is that we choose Christ. We choose to receive him into our lives as Lord and Savior. We choose to serve him and honor him. But normal thinking does not get it. Biblical thinking corrects us. We easily forget that God chose us before we chose Him. God chose to take the initiative to reach out to us long before we thought about reaching out to Him. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. It is always God who takes the initiative. He goes before us. His plan for us is already determined.
We do well to seriously ponder Paul’s provocative words to “Press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Do you recognize, do you acknowledge that God has laid hold of you? You and I are not volunteers in God’s service. We have been drafted. We have been commissioned. We have been called. We have been called to God’s purpose for our lives.
If we fail to take hold of what God has laid his hands upon us to do we will forever be restless. As St. Augustine discovered after years of rebellion and years of wasting his life, his soul was restless until he found rest in surrendering to God’s Will. When we take hold of that for which Christ has taken hold of us then and only then will we have peace.
In His Love,
Charles
