We all have goals. For those of you still in school, it may be good grades, a date with that special guy/girl, acceptance to a certain college. For the rest of us, it may be getting a raise, having a family, going back to school.

None of these goals, in themselves, is bad.

But if they are “the” goal, then they’re not just bad.

They’re crap.

And I mean that in the most literal, biblical sense.

Check out these verses from Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

“The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him.” (Phil. 3:7-8, The Message)

Paul is saying that nothing – no science project, no research paper, no cute guy, no job, no diploma – nothing on earth compares to knowing Christ Jesus. Then Paul says that everything else he used to think was so important (and he had quite the list of accomplishments), was as insignificant as dog dung (the actual Greek word for “dog dung” is even more graphic than “crap”! Paul was serious about this topic.)

And yet, we spend most of our energy on the crap! We stress over it, gossip about it, spend time and money and brain cells on it. We are rolling around in poop, covering ourselves in it everyday. Parents, we push our kids into the poop. Teens, you let the media and your friends dump bucket loads of poop on your heads everyday.

Let’s get out of the waste. Let’s clean up, leave that crap behind, and seek Christ Jesus. Let’s do what we were created to do. Let’s fully embrace Christ and experience the pure joy of being embraced by Him.