Joy in Living for Christ
"For to
me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21, ESV)
What's the first thought
that comes to mind when you meet single minded people? For example,
suppose you meet someone who is consumed with his job. He works 60 hours
a week, and when he's not at the office, he's on his cell phone and
laptop. His life is planned around his business trips and all he can talk
about is his job. I know what the first thought that comes to my mind
is—obsessed! Here is a guy who has no life outside of his job. Here
is a guy who would be miserable when he retires—if he retires. Now that's
my thought. Some people applaud hard work and devotion to duty.
Most people I would like to think would say this guy needs some balance in his
life.
The Apostle Paul was a
single minded person; both before and after his conversion. After his
conversion, all he could talk about is Christ. Paul strikes me as the kind
of guy who would direct every single conversation he had toward the subject of
Jesus Christ. When Paul writes, "For to me to live is Christ,"
I believe he truly means it. Paul's life was the gospel! Here's
Paul, as we noted last time, under Roman imprisonment, not knowing whether he
was going to live or die, and all he could think about was his service to
Christ and his ministry to the Philippian believers.
You could say that Paul
was obsessed with the gospel. Though unlike being obsessed with a
temporal job, there's nothing wrong with being obsessed with the gospel.
I don't think we'll ever hear God say, "You know <put your name
here>, I really wish you'd tone it down a bit. You're just a little
too fired up about the gospel. People are beginning to think you're a
fanatic."
Sadly, many Christians,
myself included, do not hold the same fervor as Paul did. Can any of us
say, "For
to me to live is Christ?" Quite frankly, there are
times where it could be said of me, "For to me to live is...watching
TV," or "For to me to live is...spending time on the
computer." We are so spoiled here in
The flip side to Paul's
statement above is, "and to die is gain." Again, how many of
us can truly say that dying is gain? Oh yes, intellectually we can agree
with this, but aren't we just a wee bit too attached to our temporal
lives? Let's face it, if we aren't living and breathing Christ—like
Paul—then there is something else that has our attention. True
confession, there are times I catch myself thinking that there are going to be
things in this life I will miss when I get to heaven. Then I realize what
an absolutely stupid statement that is! The most boring day in heaven
will far exceed the best day we've ever had on earth!
Bottom line. We all need to ramp up our
living for Christ—you, me, everyone. Paul says later in Philippians that
we are aliens in a foreign land (cf. Philippians
Have a blessed day!