Daily Lesson for Thursday 5th of February 2026
Read Philippians 3:10-16. What are some of the main points Paul makes in this passage?
Surely there is nothing more important than knowing Christ, which guarantees in the end that He will know us and acknowledge us before the Father (see Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:32-33). How do we know Him? Through His Written Word—reading it and living it. We cannot know Him face-to-face as the disciples did. But interestingly, despite that knowledge, they still failed to comprehend His words, underscoring our need of the Holy Spirit to guide us (see John 16:13). The more we know Him, the closer we come to Him, because we experience “the power of His resurrection” (Philippians 3:10), which raises us to “newness of life” (Romans 6:4, NKJV).
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Another way we come closer to Jesus is through “the fellowship of His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10, NKJV). Every trial faced, every painful experience borne, helps us to know and appreciate more what Jesus went through for us, and also to understand Him and His will more clearly.
A third way we come closer is by pressing onward “toward the goal” (Philippians 3:14, NKJV). What is that goal? It translates a word used only here in the New Testament (skopos). It refers to the finish line of a race and the prize awarded the victor. Paul calls it “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14, NKJV). Just as Christ, through His death and resurrection, ascended upward to heaven, God invites us to receive the same heavenly reward—eternal life.
Obviously, we have not attained that yet. We will not be perfected in the fullest sense until our “lowly body” is transformed “that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Philippians 3:21, NKJV). But by knowing Him and inviting His presence into our lives every day, we press on toward the goal of being like Jesus in every way possible now. This is the “one thing” Paul focused on, too. Just like running a race (see 1 Corinthians 9:24-27), we pay no attention to where we’ve been or who trails us. Our single focus is on the things that lie ahead—that heavenly prize that awaits us. The image here is vivid: a runner’s full focus on the goal, straining every muscle and leaning forward to reach the finish line.
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Why, in your walk with the Lord, is it so important not to keep looking back, at least back at your sins and failures, but instead to look ahead to what you have been promised right now in Christ? |
