“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
This week’s group discussion was about Danelle's journey to a better relationship with God and also compared life as an ant in an ant farm to an ant in the wild. The comparison gave the group a wide variance of scenarios to discuss.
Danelle’s intro to the discussion was heartfelt and vulnerable. She explained that with all the good things in her life, she was still missing something significant.
She recounted that as she finished school and went from working at Caribou to transitioning to a career she wanted, she was still not fulfilled. She was receiving the opportunities she wanted and accomplished the things she was after – but she still felt empty.
Danelle was starting to think that without a relationship with God, life would never make sense. And she didn't feel like living it.
Danelle started to take steps to talk with God, learn about Him and start to trust Him. And even though the circumstances of her life are still almost identical, she has a lot more joy in her life.
When we think of the scenarios of ants in the wild vs ants in an ant farm we can think of how that is us.
If I am an ant in an ant farm, I am always limited to what I can do. I am doing the same things over and over and will never live to my potential. If I am an ant in the wild, I can live far beyond what I could do in the farm. I can live to my potential. The wild represents what we can do with a live full of Jesus. We can live the live we were meant for. Living in an ant farm has us not having our intended purpose. Without freedom in Christ, we are living a trapped life.