Recently I have been preparing for our upcoming online Bible study on Philippians 3. In doing so, I’ve just been impressed with how the apostle Paul was so willing to sacrifice everything for Christ, because he had seen a vision of Him:

Yes, surely, I count all things to be loss on account of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, that I may gain Christ.
— Philippians 3:8

It is very good to have a desire to follow Christ; there is even a popular ministry today called “Desiring God.” In fact, the more desire we have for Christ, the better. But considering these verses, and the price Paul paid to follow the Lord, I am reminded of something Brother Titus Chu once said:

The Christian life is not a matter of desire, but of decisions.

So, if we truly desire to follow Christ, then we must, like Paul, allow our inward desire to affect the decisions we make and how we live our life. And ultimately, that means we must decide to allow the Lord to bring us to the cross, however that works out in our life, so that He may also, in the end, bring us into the experience of His resurrection life.

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—  11 April 2026 —