That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death – Philippians 3:10 ESV
Sometimes I have thought it strange that the Apostle Paul shares that He has a desire to know Christ. I mean of all the people, surely Paul knew Christ better than anyone. Yet Paul pauses in his letter to tell his friends that even after serving God for years, through both success and suffering, now locked in a Roman jail he still longs to really know Christ. How can this be? Did Paul not know the Jesus who had met him on the road to Damascus? Was this not the man who was spoken to by angels and had been used to spread the gospel to half the known world? If he didn’t know Jesus, then what about the rest of us? But I believe that what Paul is saying, is that he needs to do more than know – he needs to experience the power and presence of Jesus Christ. It is like when a child cries at night. He knows his parents are right in the next room, but he needs them to come closer. He wants them to come near enough to touch, near enough to remind Him again, that they are there and that he is their child. Paul in his prison cell, was that child. In spite of all he had accomplished for Christ and all He had seen in visions and dreams; Paul knew that he needed to know more of Jesus Christ. He needed to rest in His power and to take comfort that Christ shared in his sufferings. He longed to find there, right in that jail cell, the assurance that God was with Him and that he was right where he belonged. What do you need today? Jesus says to simply ask, and He promises that we will receive. When we really pray, God really listens, and He promises to come so that we can know Him more!
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