Pressing the Reset Button: A Reflection on Philippians 3:3-16
How many of you have ever played a game or have a gaming system with a reset button? How many of you remember, however, the “reset” button on older gaming systems? I vividly recall one particular experience with my original Nintendo and Super Mario Brothers. I had reached a level I had never seen before. With no memory cards, saves, or checkpoints, the only option was to keep pushing forward. Then, someone came over to the house with their kids, and one of those little kids walked over to my Nintendo and pressed the reset button. Can you imagine how upset I was? I had played so long and had gotten so far, and someone just came along and, in an instant, my game was over.
This scenario is reminiscent of our scripture today. Paul speaks to the Philippians about values and priorities, reflecting on his past accomplishments. He shares in Philippians 3:3c-6 about all he had achieved. Paul had everything going for him, both financially and socially. Now, let’s bring this into our context today. How many of us, if we examine our lives, truly feel we are on top of the world? Perhaps you have the perfect job, a comfortable income, a beautiful home, a nice car, and all the latest gadgets. Students, maybe you have excellent grades, are good at sports, receive awards, and are popular among your peers.
But let’s flip this around. Maybe you are struggling, barely keeping afloat. Perhaps you don’t earn enough, everything in your house needs repairs, and your car is unreliable. Young people, maybe you work extra hard just to achieve average grades, you don’t excel in sports, and you feel excluded from extracurricular activities or even bullied.
Wherever you are in life, Paul’s message is for all of us. The scriptures tell us that no matter our current situation, we can “reset” our hearts and minds. Paul emphasizes this in Philippians 3:7-11. Despite all his possessions and achievements, they were nothing compared to what he found in Christ Jesus. His past accomplishments were insignificant because Christ had not been a part of them.
Have you ever had a brilliant idea or a project that consumed all your thoughts? It’s as if that idea “seized” your brain and body, and for that time, it was all that mattered. I remember when I was playing baseball, for those few hours on the field, the world would disappear. I was completely immersed in the game. Paul describes his feeling of being in Christ in a similar way. It’s as if Christ seized his identity and character, reshaping them in His likeness. Christ had seized his very life.
These moments of feeling seized by Christ are often fleeting. We experience a glimpse, a second when we feel our “hearts strangely warmed”; we encounter those thin-place moments where God’s grace overwhelms us. We feel Christ’s presence and God’s grace, a profound assurance. But these experiences are brief. We can’t sustain them or live in them constantly. We live in the real world and must return to our daily grind. Yet, we remember those moments. They sustain us through the times when God feels distant. Once we’ve experienced being “in Christ,” we desire more of that feeling. It becomes the prize we seek, more valuable than any worldly accomplishment—whether power, fame, wealth, or status. Being in Christ becomes our ultimate goal, our greatest desire. The things of this world become rubbish compared to this desire.
Paul encourages us in Philippians 3:12-16 to always pursue this feeling of being seized by Christ. One way to do this is to forget the things behind us and reach out for the things ahead. Imagine a runner lunging forward to cross the finish line. Like this runner, we must leave our past footsteps behind and reach for the prize. No matter where your life has been, it can be reset. Your new focus can be the prize we are all striving for—God’s upward call in Jesus Christ.