There is no better place to begin than the superiority of the Son of God—this is true of every beginning, from new thoughts to new days and from new tasks to new worlds. Christ must come first always, and there is no controversy in that. Here, basking in the contemplation of God’s glory, must we begin. Begin (for we will never reach the end) to consider the absolute, contented pleasure our Lord experienced in his Father’s company before the foundation of the world (John 17:24).
Dare, begin, to take up his themes in your mind—the glory and the honour and the power—and, if by some fantastical rapture you were then brought to live in heaven’s eternal joy, yet were not destroyed by the presence of perfect holiness… could you let it go? Jesus did.
Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Philippians 2:5-7
What incredible strength, what powerful humility! The scriptures are full of ‘seconds’: favored second-born Abel1; clutching wrestler Jacob2; humble prince Jonathan3; and decreasing John the Baptist4, to name a few. Yet none can move us more than the man who knelt in agony and prayed to his Father, “…not my will, but yours…” (Luke 22:41). The point of Jesus’s compliance to give up his position, his will, and his life can never be overstated—especially not within the context of our own call to submission.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus
Philippians 2:3-5
Paul’s appeal to coming second sits in stark contrast to today’s mantra of “me first.” Let this opposition not be a discouragement but instead be an emboldening, for, ‘The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him… But we have the mind of Christ.’ (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? Take this question as an opportunity today to practice to begin putting yourself second, and, rather than thinking about your own position, will, and life, begin to examine (by the Spirit’s help) Jesus’ instead. Join with those who took up the goal to imitate Christ, followers like Paul and Epaphras, praying that they and those they laboured with would be ‘filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual understanding’ (Colossians 1:9) and to ‘stand mature and fully assured in the will of God.’ (Colossians 4:12)
This can be a hard thing to begin, so begin it with him.
Jake Williamson, The Church of God in Trinidad
