Philippians 3:7-8

"God alone satisfies." ~ Thomas A' Kempis

I read this seemingly shallow quote and did not give it a second thought. "Of course God satisfies", was my thought. I trust God with the salvation of my soul, of course I rest in Him for my value and encouragement. Yet, as I sat it became obvious that my total satisfaction did not come from God alone. I find satisfaction in my relationships with others. I find my value in how much I have in my bank account. My security comes from my job. My spiritually value comes from what role I play in my church. These are all honorable pursuits but the issue comes when I start to depend on them for how I view myself. All of these pursuits will eventually fail me. My friends will betray me, my bank account will one day sit at $0, I will be laid off from my job or retire and my church will one day go in direction I do not feel is healthy. So as I sit reading this quote from Kempis I see that there are many things which I seek to satisfy me when all along I should be resting in my Father for my everything.

Paul says speaks to this in Philippians 3:7-8:

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ"

Paul draws a very firm line for us to follow. I have things in my life that may be useful, but they provide me no true meaning....no true satisfaction. In fact in verse 8 the word "rubbish" literally means crap. I count the things of this world as crap in view of the surpassing greatness of Christ. I wash myself of the things of this world. I don't bury myself in the things of this world...I mean who takes a bath in crap? Its a great picture Paul draws for us here and his emphasis is this: the things of this world are undoubtedly a part of our life, but how much value do you place on them?

Is Christ the source of satisfaction for 60% of you or do you depend on Him solely to give your life value and worth?