The Pursuit and the Prize (Friday Devotional)

 

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

- Philippians 3:14 

My son Isaac is endlessly fascinated by the sight of me in a baseball cap. The moment he sees me wearing one, he reaches out to grab it—doesn’t matter what colors are on the hat or what team it represents. He is locked on my cap until he manages to wrest it off my head.

But I’ve noticed something funny: once he has a hold of the hat, he doesn’t know what to do with it. Sometimes he’ll put the brim in his mouth, other times he’ll raise it above his head like a trophy, and still other times he’ll crawl away clutching it in one hand. Whatever he does with it initially, he almost always gets bored after a few seconds, at least until I put it back on my head. He’s like the proverbial dog that caught the car—he knows he wants it, but once he’s got it, he doesn’t know what to do. 

There are things that people spend their entire lives pursuing. From fame to fortune, from power to prosperity, we thirst for those things which will make us feel successful, those things our culture says bring happiness. 

But what many find is that once they graduate from the pursuit of happiness to the achievement of their dreams, they still feel empty. Money can’t buy happiness, and power doesn’t win you love. The deeper longings of the soul are not rewarded by earthly gain, no matter how much you acquire.

Scripture speaks of a different pursuit than the kind our world glorifies. Paul wrote about pressing on toward the goal to win the prize—not a trophy or a title, but the prize of knowing Christ in life and thus being assured of resurrection after death. This pursuit was one that drove him every day to share the gospel—and this prize was one that lasts for all eternity. Knowing the Lord, he showed, satisfies your soul.

Everybody needs a reason to get up in the morning, some kind of chase motivating you to keep pushing. Don’t settle for worldly prizes that inevitably disappoint. Instead, find your purpose in his glory.