July 29

Read: Philippians 3:7-12

I count all things but loss… that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings (Philippians 3:8, 10).

I Want To Be Like Jesus

I do not enjoy temptation or trials but, oh, how I yearn to be like Jesus! I cannot be like Him if I am seeking only “the power of his resurrection.” I am most like Him when I am ready also to accept “the fellowship of his sufferings.”

We often think of God’s grace as enabling us to endure temptations, but can we go further than this? The Bible teaches us that committed Christians can find a source of deep joy even in testings. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some

strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings” (I Peter 4:12-13). When my goal is to be like Jesus, I can rejoice in any experience where I seem to be a little bit like my Lord.

When I am tempted, I can be like Him. He too knew the struggle with evil, but He did not yield to it. He too shrank from the fierce encounter but was ready to accept whatever the Father sent.

Can I really find some joy in the midst of my tests? I can if, more than all else, I want to know Christ’s fellowship. I can if, in my tests, I place my hand in His, and walk side by side with Him. I can if with Him I say to the Father, “Not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mark 14:36). This is to know what Our Lord knew in the hour of His deepest test. This is to know “the fellowship of his sufferings.”

Be like Jesus, this my song, In the home, and in the throng. Be like Jesus all day long, I would be like Jesus.*

— James Rowe

Copyright 1940 Renewal, The Rodeheaver Co., Used by permission.