THE VERSE
It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored 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
THE THOUGHT
How would you respond if you were told that you only have six months to live? Would you weep and rail against God for abandoning you? Would you take that world cruise that you had always wanted to do? Would you spend the time with your family? Pour yourself out in missions? Would you be sad, or would you rejoice?
Paul, who was often faced with these kinds of realities, had a ready answer for the Philippians. He wasn't so interested in whether or not he would live. The burden he had was not to see the grandchildren grow up. He was eager, he said, to have "sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death." His yearning was for God to be glorified in the way he lived and in the way he died. Glorifying God with his life meant, as he went on to say, serving others with joyful abandon.
But what he says about glorifying Christ in his death is very revealing as to where Paul's heart truly lay. "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far." He looked forward to seeing Jesus face to face, and so the prospect of dying did not bring him grief, but rather overflowing joy. This is how he was to glorify God in his death; by counting Jesus Christ as such a precious treasure that he could lose all his earthly possessions and friends and yet still say, "Gain!" May we all have that same passion, to count everything as loss for the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.
THE PRAYER
Lord Jesus, Be exalted in my body, in both my life and death. I want You to be honored, and I want Your glory to have greater worth to me than all the treasures of this world. You are my treasure, Jesus. I long to see Your face.
EXTENDED READING
Philippians 1:20-26
Philippians 3:7-11
THE QUOTE
"We are full of sin, but the Savior bids us lift our eyes to Him; and as we gaze upon His streaming wounds, each drop of blood, as it falls, cries, 'It is finished; I have made an end of sin; I have brought in everlasting righteousness.'" ~Charles Spurgeon
THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
2 Chronicles 28-29
Psalm 148
Luke 12:22-34
2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
Hi Brenden
ReplyDeleteJust a test. As you know I do have comments on occasion.
How nice to see your grandparents again!
Jim