To recap yesterday’s point, when it came to its value, inspired by the Spirit of God, the apostle Paul was clear and categorical that he considered everything a loss, in fact a liability in his case, not an asset, when compared to the value of knowing Christ Jesus His saviour.  Paul’s position was crystal clear – nothing, absolutely nothing could ever come anywhere near to his knowledge of Christ when it came to his value system let alone knock it from prime position.  Paul considered everything put together (yes, put together!) as rubbish when compared to the exceedingly great and surpassing worth of knowing Christ in his own life.

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…     Philippians 3:8

That is how valuable knowing God is – nothing else can even stand to be compared with it.

All other knowledge and status (acquired either through personal effort or some other means – birth, ancestry, rites or promotion) fades into utter oblivion when compared to the surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ Jesus “my” Lord – the “my” emphasising the personal and individual nature of that knowledge, a knowledge that must and will only hold its value if it is made personal and not otherwise.

Education and knowledge in every field of life is good but it is not the ultimate and definitely cannot have the last word in determining the quality of your life. Even though it is God given and of some value none of it nor all of it put together is any match for knowing God in terms of worth and value. The value of knowing God far surpasses the value of all these put together. It is a matter of perspective and not  of one replacing or eliminating the other.

Once, in Luke 10:38 – 42 while Jesus was visiting the family of Martha and Mary, Martha was upset and annoyed at her sister Mary’s choice to sit down at the feet of Jesus to lap up everything He was teaching as opposed to assisting her in the domestic tasks at hand. Martha was agitated and flustered with the these tasks (possibly preparation of food for Jesus and his disciples) and the fact that in it all her own sister seemed  ignorant to her plight choosing instead to nonchalantly listen to The Lord. So she came to Him to complain at His apparent unconcern and the injustice of her stretching to the limit while her sister did nothing to help but sat there at His feet listening to Him.

She definitely did not get the apologetic response she was hoping for!

In fact, Jesus sided with Mary and her wise choice from the options available to her at the time but not because he considered food unnecessary and wanted to slam it down but because Martha’s outlook on the value of His words and her perspective on what weighed heavier in importance was skewed. The Lord corrected her by saying that Mary’s decision was the right one and that Martha needed to adjust her perspective and hold a corrected view like her sister.

The Lord gave a scathing response to Martha’s plea for support by stating that she was anxious and troubled about many things but in the midst of it all had lost sight of that which was necessary, essential and of far greater value and importance. On the other hand Mary seemed to have nailed it on the head – she made the right choice.

The Lord challenged Martha to identify that which was necessary and essential from among the many things that were worrying and upsetting her, but by no means at the cost of the other – only as a matter of priority and order.

The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41-42

It is essentially about making the right choices when faced with many things that are vying for our time and attention (which they constantly do). And all The Lord was saying to her was to not get flustered or agitated but adjust her value system first in order to be able to weigh up what is at stake and make the right choice. It is an adjusted value system that will lead to the selection of the right choice. So The Lord’s challenge to Martha was, “Adjust your value system and then practise it!” Your sister did and made the right choice based on the value system she held and practised.

By setting aside the time as you are doing to pursue and invest in your knowledge of God, you have made the choice that Christ commends and is very pleased with – be encouraged that you are most certainly operating within His will. 

Let us diligently pursue and embrace the opportunities that come our way to increase and deepen our knowledge of Him in our lives making any necessary adjustments to our value system and reordering your priorities to accommodate Him first.

The real value and quality of your life will never depend on the amount of wealth you generate, money you make or material possessions you acquire. Neither will it depend on the fame you manage to achieve or the amount of degrees and pursuant knowledge you amass – though all will go some way in making your biological existence an easier affair and afford you status and position in the eyes of men. The real value and true quality of your life is determined by the depth of personal knowledge of God you have for by it alone are we given access to everything that pertains to life and godliness:

His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.
2 Peter 1:3

We should not value anything more than our knowledge of Christ and God but consistently aspire to grow in and get more of it in our lives through a dedicated and systematic investment plan. There is no greater knowledge than the knowledge of God.

If we are to enjoy life and get the most out of it, then we must make the knowledge of God our primary pursuit in life.

Let us seek God’s assistance in adjusting our value systems in line with His and practically reordering our priorities leading to a more determined and diligent pursuit of His Knowledge in our lives.