If someone were to ask you,
“What is the purpose of the Christian life?”
How would you answer?
Perhaps you would speak of loving God.
Serving others.
Growing in holiness.
Sharing the Gospel.
All of these are beautiful answers.
Yet beneath each one lies something even deeper.
Relationship.
God didn’t create us simply to learn facts about Him.
He created us to know Him.
As Paul reflects on everything he has gained in Christ,
he reveals the deepest desire of his heart.
It’s not for greater influence.
Not for greater knowledge.
Not even for relief from his imprisonment.
His greatest longing is wonderfully simple.
“That I may know Him.”
Scripture Reading
10 That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.
Devotional Reflection
Paul had already met the risen Christ on the road to Damascus.
He had served Him for many years.
He had preached the Gospel across the Roman world.
Yet he still says,
“That I may know Him.”
That tells us something remarkable.
Knowing Christ is not a destination we eventually reach.
It’s a relationship that continues to deepen throughout our lives.
The more we walk with Him,
the more we discover His faithfulness.
The more we experience His grace.
The more we begin to love what He loves,
and desire what He desires.
There is always more of Christ to know.
We live in an age filled with information.
With a few keystrokes
we can learn facts about almost anything.
But information is not the same as relationship.
You can know many things about a person
without truly knowing them.
The same can be true of our faith.
We can study Scripture.
Read theology.
Memorize verses.
All of these are wonderful gifts.
But they’re meant to lead us into communion with the living Christ.
Knowledge that never becomes relationship
remains incomplete.
God invites us to walk with Him.
To speak with Him.
To trust Him.
And little by little,
to become more like Him.
Today,
spend a few quiet moments with the Lord
for no other purpose than simply being with Him.
Read a Gospel passage slowly.
Sit in silence after your prayer.
Listen more than you speak.
Don’t rush through your time with God
as another task to complete.
Instead,
receive it as time with Someone who loves you.
Relationships grow through presence.
And so does our relationship with Christ.
The greatest gift of the Christian life
is not merely what God gives us.
It’s God Himself.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus,
More than anything else,
I want to know You.
Not only through the pages of Scripture,
but in the quiet moments of everyday life.
Teach me to recognize Your voice.
To trust Your guidance.
And to delight in Your presence.
Keep me from becoming so busy doing things for You
that I neglect simply being with You.
May my love for You continue to grow.
May my faith become deeper.
And may every joy,
every trial,
and every ordinary day draw me into closer communion with You.
For You are not only the Savior I worship,
but the Friend who walks beside me,
the Shepherd who leads me,
and the Lord whom I long to know more each day.
To You be glory,
together with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.