‘for me, to live is Christ’
After a challenging week dealing with what God has asked us to deal with, lets re-read the passage from Phillipians 1: 20-21
‘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.’
To recap from last week:The desire on Paul’s heart is two fold:
- To not be ashamed of his testimony of the gospel
- To see Christ exalted in his life
Paul then states that he desires this ‘whether by life or death.’ This is the focus for these two weeks. How can we see Christ exalted in our life through life and death? Last week we focused on ‘through death’ and this week we will look at ‘through life’.
Through Life
‘for me, to live is Christ.’ Paul’s heart here shows us that anything that filled Paul’s life failed to compare with his desire to see Christ exalted. Paul had a view that life was inly important if it meant that Christ was exalted in his life. In other words, Christ would always be the central driving force behind Paul’s actions.
Unlike the Pharisees in Matthew 15: 8-9 whose focus was their own exaltation, Paul’s example to us challenges us to always put God’s plan and purpose first.
Our application this week is simply to ask the following question:
Is there anything in my life that I have placed before the will of God?
