Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8-11)

 

This week is often called Holy Week or the week of Christ’s Passion (His suffering). Christians take time to pause and take notice of the foundation of their faith–the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But, too often, this week comes and goes with little fanfare. Sure, we might have a big family luncheon on Easter Sunday afternoon, but then on Monday we go on with our lives with seemingly little consideration. However, the early apostles never let the events of that week leave them unchanged.

 

Paul wrote the words of Scripture that are above from a prison. After all of these years, the events of Holy Week were always fresh on his mind. He says that knowing Christ, and knowing what Christ accomplished, is worth more than all of the wealth of the entire universe combined. Everything else that humans normally hold so dear is nothing but rubbish / garbage / sewage in comparison to living for Christ in the power of Christ to affect the world for Christ. There is power in living for Christ–resurrection power. Resurrection power isn’t just for when we receive our resurrection bodies, it is for the here and now. But we can’t live in that power if we regard Christ and what He did in Holy Week as no more than a reason to eat.

 

There is little resurrection power in the church, and the church is ineffective because of it. But if we want that resurrection power in our lives and families and churches, it begins with valuing Christ and His accomplishments as the most important thing in our lives. My prayer for myself and my family and my church family is that we hold Christ to be more valuable than anything else in the universe, and everything else that we think is so important is really nothing but garbage. And then see Christ’s resurrection power at work.