Whether in Life or Whether in Death

 

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

—Philippians 1:21

We tend to evaluate the significance of the events that occur throughout the course of our lives by some type of rating scale. Seeing the Grand Canyon, flying in an airplane for the first time, graduating from high school or college, completing basic training in the military, starting our first job, achieving a promotion at work—whatever the event, we think about it in terms of where it might reside on a list of significant things that have happened to us. Such events, we think, help define who we are.

The Apostle Paul whittled down the scale of his life’s definition into two distinct components. Notice these words of Paul’s, recorded in Philippians 1:21:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

“As long as I am on this earth,” Paul insists, “I am determined to put Christ first in every aspect of my life. And, when I pass from this life to the next, I know this will be a genuine gain for me.”

Paul was not trying to accelerate his departure, nor was he resisting that “graduation” day. He recognized that his role as Christ’s ambassador held the supreme position in his life. And, Paul also knew for certain that “Heaven is better than this!” as the gospel songwriter once declared:

Heaven is better than this.
Praise God, what joy and bliss.
Walking on streets of solid gold,
  in that Land where we’ll never grow old.
Heaven is better than this.
Praise God, what joy and bliss.
I’m not done with walking down here.
But, heaven is better than…
Heaven is better than…
Heaven is better than this.

As we begin this new day, let’s find ourselves in exactly the place that Paul described: that place in our lives where we live each day fully committed to Christ and His Kingdom and, at the same time, recognizing that when we graduate to heaven it will be to our great gain.

 

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