Lent Devotion | Day 21

Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV)

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Participating in suffering and experiencing death don’t sound so great, does it? Paul, the writer of Philippians, often says things like this, and, if we don’t pay attention to a very important word, we can easily miss the whole point. So what’s the word? “Resurrection.”

When Paul says he wants to become like Christ in suffering and death, he’s saying, “I want resurrection life! I want to leave behind the old ways – pride, greed, petty divisions – and embrace the new ways made possible in Christ!” We can’t live into the new without sacrificing the old – we can’t experience life in Christ without putting to death the old ideas of achieving success and power.

What might the Spirit be prompting you to put to death so that you can experience resurrection life in Christ?