‘I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted 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 (NIV).
For those who don’t know Christ this earth is all there is.
So it seems only natural that they would live in pursuit of the values that it offers: pleasure, power, prestige, popularity and profit.
However, in Paul’s eyes there was only one reason to live and only one reason to die: Christ.
Nothing else mattered.
In fact, all else was rubbish and could not be compared to the delight of experiencing Jesus Christ.
To truly live for Christ, Paul let go of everything else this world offers and instead embraced with passion everything that Christ offers.
A life worth living is a life in pursuit of Christ.
Prayer:
Father, there is a dissatisfaction and yearning inside for something more than what this world offers.
Help me to break free of this earthly system and seek you and your values with a passion and purpose.
I turn to you for help and true fulfillment.
In Jesus’ Mighty Name,
AMEN!
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Additional Thoughts:
For Paul, to live meant developing eternal values, not worldly ones.
He wanted to exalt Christ, who alone helps us to see life from an eternal perspective.
Paul’s entire purpose was to share Christ’s message with others and become more like Christ himself.
So Paul could confidently say that living is all about Christ and yet dying is still all about Him too, for then Paul would be with Christ face-to-face (1 John 3:2-3).
If we are ready to live for Christ in this life, then we will be ready to face Him in the next.
But if death still stirs up fear within, we would do well to realign our lives to serve Christ, rather than ourselves first.
Only then will we have a life worth living and an eternity worth facing.
Can we confer with Paul that to live is Christ and to die is gain?
If not, let’s allow Christ to take hold of our desires so that nothing on this earth will absorb us like the desire to live for Him and His eternal values.
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