Philippians 3:16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

This little verse is simple, but the implications are fairly deep. Put another way, it says, don’t backslide. The Japanese puts it, “We must make the level we have achieved our standard.” The short story, and then movie, Flowers for Algernon comes to mind. A laboratory mouse named Algernon is given a treatment to increase his mental capacity that is so dramatically successful that it is given to a mentally handicapped person who works as a janitor in the facility. Only after that is it discovered that Algernon’s condition peaks and then deteriorates, leading to Algernon’s death, and it is the former janitor, now genius, who analyzes the situation and realizes the same fate awaits him. The title comes from flowers the janitor brings to be placed on the mouse’s grave, after the janitor has regressed to low mental capacity on the way to his death. All in all a heartbreaking story, but really no more so than that of Christians who progress to a point of seemingly great intimacy with God, only to fall away into various kinds of sin. In the verses ahead of this Paul has been talking about how he himself took nothing for granted, but kept pressing forward for more intimacy with Christ. The point is that we are not to coast, but take our current level, whatever it is, as the new baseline and keep moving forward, because that is the best defense against being sidetracked.

Of course I am to take the whole Bible to heart, but it would be hard to find a verse that applies more directly to me than this one. As I am frequently reminded, I was given what amounted to a significant head start, spiritually speaking, because of the home into which I was born. However, I squandered that in more ways than I could count. God has been enormously faithful and patient, but I could have saved myself mountains of difficulty, fruitlessness, and heartache if I had practiced this verse from the start. This in no way negates what I wrote yesterday, but it is a reminder that we indeed have a part in “working out our salvation,” as Paul has just put it in this same letter. (Philippians 2:12) This is not to say that I’m to get busier and busier in serving God; that’s a trap of the devil. It is to say that more and more of my life is to be focused more and more closely on God, so that I progress to the point of doing only what I see God doing, as Jesus expressed it in John 5:19. As Paul has been saying here, I’m to fix my eyes on the prize and keep moving forward, encouraging all around me to do likewise, so that we may be increasingly pleasing to our Lord, who gave everything for us.

Father, this is a point You remind me of fairly frequently. Thank You. Help me appropriate the strength and wisdom You provide so that I may follow through in obedience. Thank You that I know I can’t do it in my own strength, but help me keep my will focused so that I won’t overlook the strength that You provide. May I indeed live as Your son, to be increasingly like Your Son, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!