“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:14
Few of us wake up excited to exercise. We know it’s good for us. In fact, we admire people with the discipline to get up early, lace up their shoes, and head to the gym. We just don’t always want to join them.
Here’s why: it’s one thing to recognize something is good. It’s another thing to prize it.
We rise to what we prize. If you merely believe exercise is beneficial, you’ll applaud those who do it. But when you prize it—when you believe its benefits outweigh its cost—you’ll get out of bed and do it yourself.
The same principle governs every area of life. We don’t ultimately pursue what we know is good. We pursue what we treasure.
Prizing the “Gross”
Several years ago, a Philadelphia university decided to sell Thomas Eakins’ famous painting The Gross Clinic. It portrays the nineteenth-century surgeon Dr. Samuel Gross performing an operation, and to modern eyes it lives up to its name—it is, well, rather gross.
The university needed money and agreed to sell the painting to museums in another part of the country. Philadelphia erupted. Civic leaders, donors, and ordinary citizens launched an extraordinary campaign to keep the painting where it belonged. In the end, two local museums purchased it for more than its market value.
Why? Because they believed it was worth more to them than anyone else. They prized it. People always find resources for what they treasure.
The Price of the Prize
Paul understood this better than anyone. He had found a treasure so great that every sacrifice suddenly made sense.
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul didn’t drift toward Christ. He strained toward Him. He forgot what lay behind. He embraced suffering. He reordered his entire life because he had found something infinitely more valuable than comfort, reputation, success, or safety.
Leaders who last do the same. They set their eyes on the prize and willingly pay the price.
Whether it’s Christ, career, comfort, or golf clubs, we always arrange our lives around what we prize. Our calendars, checkbooks, ambitions, and daydreams reveal what our hearts truly treasure.
But when Christ becomes our greatest prize, no sacrifice seems too costly. We gladly write the check, embrace the discipline, forgive the offender, resist temptation, and persevere through hardship because we know the prize is worth infinitely more than the price.
Today’s Tenacious Question
Where does your mind naturally drift when you’re not directing it? What do you daydream about? What do those thoughts reveal about what you truly prize? Now ask yourself one more question: What price can you willingly pay today because Christ is your greatest prize?
Prayer
Lord, we are people of small passions and tiny prizes. Too often we treasure what cannot satisfy while overlooking the infinite worth of Christ. Lift our eyes to the upward call You have given us in Him. Teach us to prize what You prize, and then give us the grace to joyfully pay whatever price is necessary to pursue Him. Amen.
Photo by Fauzan Saari on Unsplash
