Wednesday, December 19, 2012

To Live is Christ

One of the greatest statements about the Christian life, and death, was penned by the Apostle Paul when he did not know if he would live or die.

Chained to a Roman soldier and facing possible execution, he wrote, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).

I’ve been trying to understand “to live is Christ,” because I'm pretty sure without that, I won't ever get the "to die is gain" part.

Maybe "to live is Christ" means, If I gained all the things I value, but didn't have Christ, I would have nothing. And if I lost all those things, but still had Him, I would have everything. 

If I can say, "For me to live is Christ," I'm also saying,

1. Christ is the Lord of my life. Not my will but His. He is my King and I am His servant.

2. Christ is the hope of my life. I’m trusting only Him for my eternal destiny. It’s never what I’ve done for Him but always what He’s done for me that counts.

3. Christ is the strength of my life. I am weak without Him and it is His strength that enables me to live with joy in every circumstance. 

4. Christ is the meaning of my life. Knowing, loving, serving and glorifying Him is my highest goal and ambition.

5. Christ is the love of my life. I love Jesus more than anyone, including even my family or myself.

Well, it's a lot easier to say these things than to live them. But pursuing Him and admiring Him and declaring He's everything to us is part of our journey.

Here's a great video of a song we sing at church: "All I Have is Christ." I think it expresses Paul's heart.