For Which Christ Jesus Took a Hold of Me
Have you ever gotten an idea or a thought or something in your head, that once it got in there, you had a hard time removing that thought? If you tried to divert your attention elsewhere, this idea or thought would keep bubbling back up? No matter how you tried to distract yourself or move on to something else, this thought would keep intruding and come to the forefront. Sometimes a song or a tune can do that, but I’m not going to talk about that. But hopefully this idea connects, and you know what I’m talking about.
Or maybe it’s an event or something coming up. Think of a kid at Christmas as December 25 draws closer. Behaviors start to modify and correction and discipline is more readily received. What are they thinking of? What are they looking forward to? Christmas! I used to work with a lady – it wouldn’t matter what day of the year you asked her, if you asked her how many days until Christmas, she would tell you off the top of her head. And she was right!
Maybe instead of an idea or upcoming date, you’ve gotten this way with a person. For those who are married, wasn’t there a time (usually in the initial phase of the relationship) where you thought of that person all the time? A time where you wanted to spend every spare moment with that person? And when you weren’t together, all you could do is look forward to when you would get together? For some that are married, is it still that way? Or at least sometimes? Even if you’re not married, haven’t there been times in most people’s lives when they were just wrapped up in thinking about a person?
When you get this way, it’s not so much that you have a thought, and you want to keep thinking of it. Instead, it’s as if this thought has actually taken hold of you, and it keeps demanding your attention. You have lost control, and this thought has taken control. This thought has taken on a life of its own and it rules the roost in your head. You battle to gain control of yourself and your thoughts. But it’s like you can’t win – it’s going to dominate your thinking.
Have you ever had this kind of experience with Jesus? Paul did. He speaks of it in Philippians 3:12 – “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” He doesn’t talk about how he likes to think of Christ from time to time. He’s not saying that he likes to devote a period of each day to focus and think of Christ, like a purposefully set aside time for devotion. He says that Christ Jesus has actually taken hold of him. Just like the thought you can’t control, you can’t get rid of – this has happened to Paul. He’s not just thinking about Christ, but Christ has taken hold of him and he cannot help himself from thinking or pondering Christ and what it is he’s done, what he’s doing, what he’s said, etc.
Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever read something, or heard something in a sermon or bible class, or podcast and then been so enamored with that idea, that concept, that thought, and you cannot leave it alone? It keeps coming back to the forefront of your conscious thinking and you feel compelled to think about it, and its ramifications for your life. And for the life of everyone around you? Something that makes you want to grab your bible and find those verses you’re thinking of. Find the context of them and what was said. Or you look to that book you read 10 years ago that said something, and now it makes more sense and you want to put it all together. Or find a podcast or a web page, to see what other folks are saying.
Christ Jesus took hold of Paul. I think he wants to take hold of each of us too. Not us taking hold of Christ and controlling him – but him taking hold of us and controlling us. That’s not a bad thing, like the 50’s horror movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Having Christ get a hold of you is a good thing.
-Mike Hendricks