"Approve the things which are excellent"

"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in t knowledge and in all judgment; that you may approve the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."

-Philippians 1:9-11

Reading through Philippians this morning; the first chapter so stood out to me, both in respect to my friends in the body at Siegen and in SoCal. I love how Paul goes on to say...

"according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

-Philippians 1:20-21

Reading this reminds me of a conversation and a question that came up with my friend Josh... it must have been at least 3 years ago. The question, actually two, basically was, "What have you lost? But what have you gained?" My ears perk up every time I hear a person recounting their testimony, particularly when you hear something along the lines of, "I gave up ______, and ______, and ______ to follow the Lord and do what I am doing." While I understand the thinking and have likely said something like this before, it always kind of bothers me. For you see in the light of all that God has given me, my 'sacrifices,' if you can even call them that, are absolutely nothing. In fact as Philippians continues (to my favorite chapter), Paul calls all of his former achievements rubbish and worthy of nothing more but to be cast aside.

This will end up being a bit longer than normal, but a story I once heard comes to mind. Maybe you have read some Greek Mythology and know a bit of the story of Ulysses as he passed the Island of the Sirens. The Sirens were beautiful creatures who were part human and part bird. Their songs were so wonderful that any person who heard them would become enchanted. All the sailors who heard the Sirens' songs would hurl themselves overboard and swim to the island of the Sirens, lured by these strange maidens the men would die upon the jagged rocks around the isle.

Ulysses was determined to hear the songs of the Sirens and survive. He had his men, the rowers of his ship, to put wax in their ears and bind him to the mast of the boat. He told them that no matter how hard he tried to get loose, or how loudly he yelled to them they were not to loose him. As the ship passed the isle of the Sirens that melody charmed Ulysses, he fought with all his might to be freed from the ship, but his men paid no attention to him as they rowed on. While Ulysses and his men were some of the only ones to ever survive the passage by the isle Ulysses was forever haunted by the song of the Sirens... Nice story ehh? :) It doesn't end there, for there was however another vessel that made safe passage by the isle of the Sirens.

Jason and the Argonauts had to sail past the dangerous isle as they returned from some of their journeys. When they neared the isle the song of the Sirens began to entice the men; mesmerized by the music the ship began to be turned toward the deadly rocks. There was however amongst Jason's crew a musician, the greatest of all musicians named Orpheus who was not affected by the Sirens' songs. Orpheus took his lyre and began a splendid song of his own. The music of Orpheus was greater than that of the Sirens and the men sailed past the isle unharmed.

There were only a few that had survived the songs of the Sirens, but only Jason and the Argonauts were not haunted by the song of the Sirens as was Ulysses, for they had heard the tune of greater music...

Has the music of your former life become rubbish in the light of the Glory and Majesty of Christ? Or are you still haunted by the sounds of the Sirens?