July 21 The Heart of St. Paul
It is said that a cynic is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. St. Paul is definitely not a cynic. For him, the pearl of great price is the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Everything in his life that is valuable comes from Christ and knowing his love.
St. Paul writes in the Letter to the Philippians, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” (Phil 3:8)
Many people today speak in terms of their “net worth” which is viewed in terms of money, stocks and property. None of that has any value in the eyes of Christ. When we die, we will come before the Lord with empty hands. Our value comes not from wealth or celebrity, but from the fact that Christ died for our sins on the cross. When we begin to realize that our true and lasting wealth is Jesus Christ, we can invest more of our time in serving him and serving others. In that case, we will know the value of everything and we won’t be afraid to pay the price, which is the surrender of our will to the will of God.
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