Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. (2 Corinthians 12:14)
When Jesus came into this world, He turned it upside down. The first became last and the last became first. It was better to give than to receive, and better still to forgive than to get even. And Jesus Himself, who had been sitting on the throne of heaven from all eternity, took off His outer garments, wrapped a towel around His waist, took a basin of water, and washed His disciples’ feet. These are just a few examples of our Lord’s “upside-down” teaching.
Sadly, in less than 2,000 years, far too many in the present-day church have turned the world back “right side-up” . . . and that is not the direction we ought to be going in!
When I share this concept with people at our church, they often ask me how they can know for sure if they are in the world Jesus turned upside down or in the world so many have steered back in the wrong direction. It’s actually easy to tell; just answer this question: What do you seek after most in life ? God ? Or the good gifts He gives you?
Now, I am not talking about what we all do from time to time — shifting our focus onto the stuff of life rather than keeping our eyes fixed on our Savior. What I am talking about is identifying the driving force in our lives. What is it that gets us up early and keeps us up late? It is time we spend with God and deepening our understanding of Him? Or is it time we can spend with the good gifts He has given to us and acquiring more of them?
Reread 2 Corinthians 12:14, our verse for today. The apostle Paul was making his third missionary journey to Corinth, and look at where his focus was. The love that Paul had for Jesus poured out into the lives of those he ministered to, and because of this, Paul could say, “What I want is not your possessions but you!”
Clearly this is a reflection of the heart of this great apostle. His world had been turned upside down by Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, and he chose to live in that new world every day after that, “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” (Philippians 3:13). Paul never focused on the many good gifts God had given him; indeed, he said he considered the things of this world “rubbish” (Philippians 3:8). He was always and in every way focused solely on God. He wanted more and more of his relationship with God, and because of this burning desire deep within his heart, he focused far more on people than he did their possessions.
May that be the confession of our lives as we strive to live in the upside-down world where we become a servant to all and a slave to our Savior. At this level of living, we will be able to say to God each day, what Paul was able to say . . .
“I WANT YOU . . . NOT WHAT IS YOURS!“
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 