The Main Thing, Is to Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing

Meditations for Ragamuffins

November 15, 2023

The Main Thing, Is to Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:12-13 

The passage quoted above is the beginning of the Apostle Paul’s ‘Thank-You’ note to the Philippians. His friends in Philippi had sent provisions for Paul, and expressions of their love for him when he was in jail, probably in Rome. In the note, Paul told his friends in Philippi that he had learned the secret of living in every situation. Wouldn’t you love to know Paul’s secret? Wait, don’t run too quickly to verse thirteen, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength,” because that powerful affirmation from Paul is the result of knowing the secret, not the secret itself.

Paul gives us insight to his secret with the marvelous benediction he uses to close his Thank-You note: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Philippians 4:19-20).

Paul’s passion for life flowed from his understanding of grace. Yes, grace is God’s unmerited favor, but it is so much more. The word translated as grace in the Bible can also be translated gift, and it is used to describe the gifts the Holy Spirit imparts to believers. Grace is one of the cornerstones of our faith that is a fruit of the Protestant Reformation. Sola Gratia, Latin for grace alone, describes how Paul could affirm “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28a). It is by Sola Gratia that Simeon could ask Wesley the rhetorical question, “What then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother's arms?” and it is by Sola Gratia that Wesley could answer, “Yes, altogether.”

By the way, the Latin word, gratia, that is translated grace, can also be translated, gratitude. I believe that describes Paul’s secret. He lived Sola gratia, by grace alone, and by a heart flowing with gratitude for the gift of life imparted by God the Father Almighty.

My Takeaway: We are all unique, one of a kind, creations of God. Our expressions of the Main Thing will differ, but as for me, I always focus on, “My life is not my own; by creation and redemption I belong to God.”

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.