Friday, January 11, 2019

Where is Your Focus?

For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.
Philippians 1:21 
 
This verse has always confused me because it sounded a bit odd.  Then, I began studying this verse word by word and learned quite a lot.  You see, in this verse, Paul is describing his contentment.  
 
Contentment means I am okay in whatever situation I find myself because I know that it is part of Christ's plan for me and it is HIS job to fulfill His plans for me (plans to prosper, not to destroy, according to Jeremiah 29:11).  Paul has already been beaten several times, been in jail numerous times, had been shipwrecked several times, and yet the entire focus of his life was getting the message of Christ out to people who had never heard it before.  
 
Think about today's verse in a more "earthly" way:
 
"For to me, living means getting promoted, and dying means a wall full of certificates and awards that will be boxed up and stuck away somewhere, and someone else will take the promotion I worked so hard for."
 
"For to me, living means getting money, and dying means leaving it behind for someone else."
 
"For to me, living means getting lots of stuff, and dying means it will all be sold at a garage sale."
 
What Paul is saying is for him, living means sharing Christ wherever he found himself because he knew God had put him there just for that purpose, and to die meant God's mission for him was complete and he would spend the rest of eternity with God.
 
So let me ask you, where's your focus?  On things that will be left behind or on where you'll spend the rest of eternity. 

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