What do we mean when we say that we want “more of God”? To be candid, I think we often mean that we want some “spiritual/emotional experience.” And – here’s the unspoken expectation – we want that experience to be overwhelmingly positive and uplifting.
However, that is a very narrow view of what having “more of God” involves. At times, it may even be a self-centered desire ... we just want to feel good. In contrast, consider what Paul said in Philippians 3:7-11 –
“But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because 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 mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
Paul affirms that if we really want “more of God,” we need to be willing to:
-- consider everything in life as less valuable than knowing Jesus
-- lose everything for Christ’s sake
-- join with Jesus in suffering, even to death
It is when we are willing to do all of this that we also get the joy of knowing “the power of His resurrection.”
So I urge you – earnestly desire and pray for “more of God.” But understand what that prayer requires of you ... and be assured that knowing Jesus is worth every sacrifice. Having “more of God” is far more than we can ever imagine!
“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!” (Philippians 3:13-14)
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