LEARNING DAILY

 

Philippians 1:20-24, For I live in eager expectation and hope that I will never do anything that causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die. For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don’t know which is better. Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go and be with Christ. That would be better for me, but it is better for you that I live. (New Living Translation)

 

Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians from a Roman jail. He was writing to them because he wanted to express his love for them and to express his great joy that he had gained from fellowship with them and to encourage them to continue to grow in their relationship with the Lord. They were concerned about his imprisonment and he wanted them to believe God could use his circumstances to spread the gospel to people he might not have otherwise been able to reach. Paul was confident that he would be released from jail but he still had to face some sort of trial which also might end with his death.

 

Paul was secure in his faith; he was confident that he would represent Jesus Christ well. Go back and read the verses before verse 20. Paul speaks as if he had already won the battle because God would be glorified regardless of what happened to him. Paul’s desire was to glorify God whether he lived or died. It is interesting that both aspects of what Paul said happened. He was released from his first Roman imprisonment and continued his earthly ministry. He was arrested again, was put in a Roman jail, and later died at the hands of the Romans.

 

“For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better.” This is an interesting statement. For Believers, it means that the result of our death is eternity in heaven; when we die, we immediately enter our eternal rest in the kingdom of God. We shall meet Jesus and be with Him forever. We shall know that our journey on the narrow way was worth every trial, every tear.

 

But what does it mean when Paul writes “living is Christ”? It simply means we are to share the gospel of Christ. It means that from the time Paul was converted until he was executed by the Romans everything he said, everywhere he went, everything he did was to advance the gospel. His total focus was to bring glory to his Savior. That should be the goal of every person who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, those “born again”.

 

“Living is Christ” means we imitate the life of Christ as best we can. Do you remember WWJD? It might have been popular at one time but doing What Jesus Would Do is important for every Christian as they live their life. I have written before about people watching everything and listening to every word to see if what they do lines up with what they say. It is more often what a person does, the way he/she acts and behaves that causes others to want to know more about one who follows Jesus.

 

“Living is Christ” means getting to know Him better every day; it is not knowing a lot of “stuff about Him”. Read Philippians 3:10-11! It means giving up anything that prevents us from following Him as He demands in His Word. It is focusing on Him and diligently doing all we can to walk on the narrow way to eternity in His kingdom. It is about being all in and not following Him half-heartedly (Dr. Ed Newton).

 

I encourage you to keep Jesus Christ at the very center of your heart, mind, body, and soul. Do everything you do for the glory of God in life and in death. All you do, all you give up for His glory will be worth it to someday hear, “Well done good and faithful servant!”.