Our wishes are descriptive of ourselves. “As he thinks in his heart, so is he,” the wisest of men said centuries ago. It is true today. There are times and circumstances so solemn and searching that a wish expressed at such times or in such circumstances unveils our innermost being. Our wish describes what we are in the hidden depths of our soul. It is so when death comes or friends are parting never to meet again. It is so in a great spiritual crisis, or in times of sore trial.
Before reading on let each reader ask himself, What is my dearest wish? If only one wish could be granted by one able to grant anything, what would it be?
Paul expressed his dearest wish. Circumstances rendered the expression of it, as recorded in Philippians 2:8-14, the unveiling of his innermost being. As we read the words we seem to feel the throbbings of his heart and the intensity of his all-consuming desire. He is drawing near the end of his life. It had been a busy, eventful life. It was for him, indeed, a solemn moment. Solemn it is for any of us when but a few grains are left in the hour-glass of life, when our eager eyes are looking upon a vast eternity, soon to he entered, when labour is to cease, when things appear as they really are, and all past activities are fixed beyond reach of change, be they approved or condemned.
Christ had won his heart. He counted all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. Yea, he still counts his having suffered the loss of all things as nothing, and the things themselves as dung, that he might win Christ. He longed to be found in Him, clothed in the righteousness which is of God through the faith of Christ. Not clothed, indeed, in his own righteousness, which is of the law. His heart is absorbed by its glorious Object. He unveils his innermost being. His dearest wish he expresses in language that knows no restraint. “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death.”
He held nothing back, and nothing held him back. No matter how rugged the path that led to the goal. No matter how steep the hill, or if the way led through death itself he would follow it to the very end. A bitter end so far as circumstances went it doubtless was, but a glorious beginning as he entered eternity.
And he has been most amply justified in his wish. We may rest assured that every wish short of Christ will be like an empty bubble in the end, and like the apples of Sodom, full of ashes. We want to live for Christ and for eternity. It is only as Christ is our object and love the controlling power that this can be brought to pass. What, then, reader, is your dearest wish?