"I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus." -Philippians 3:8
In researching the parts of a Clematis I learned that what I thought were petals are actually sepals which make up the calyx of the flower. As we learned in an earlier post the calyx is meant to protect the flower. In my photo you see what is left after the sepals fall from the Clematis "blossom". Without the sepals your attention is drawn to the intricacy and beauty of the actual flower.
When I was looking for a photo to illustrate Lilias Trotter's thoughts on the "grand independence of the soul" I thought of the Clematis flower: "And a like independence is the characteristic of the new flood of resurrection life that comes to our souls as we learn this fresh lesson of dying--a grand independence of any earthly thing to satisfy our soul. The liberty of those who have nothing to lose because they have nothing to keep. We can do without anything while we have God."
Paul echoes this in our verse today. Too often what we think is protecting us is actually imprisoning us. Strip away the world's offerings we gain the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus! It is more beautiful than anything this world has to offer.
I am grateful that it is possible to have true freedom in Christ.
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