Living for Christ, dying is even better

Philippians 1:21, 24 (NLT)

For to me, living means living for Christ and dying is even better……But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

 

Paul summarizes his faith here by stating that as long as he lives, he lives for the purpose of glorifying Christ, yet his greater desire is to leave this world and be home with Christ.  He is still living because God wants him to fulfill a ministry of spreading the gospel and then God will bring him home and have someone else continue that role.  That someone else is not just one person, but every person Paul’s ministry affects. 

Billy Graham’s article in the Indianapolis Star on April 25, 2009, touched on this verse.  He was asked by a Christian person if it is wrong to hate thinking about death.  Graham’s answers included the following points:

·  God does not want you to be morbid or constantly burdened with the thoughts of death.

·  He wants you to rejoice with all the good gifts He has given you until the moment that He calls you home.

·  You must not live only for the moment or ignore death.  Life is short and the longer you live, the more you realize how quickly it passes. 

·  Eternity is forever and now is the time to prepare for it.  That is why the most important decision any person needs to make is to accept the salvation that God offers through Jesus Christ.

·  If you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, you don’t need to fear death. 

·  You want your family to remember you after you are gone not only your love for them, but also your love for Jesus.

The purpose for your life is to live for Christ so that when you die, you leave behind people who will remember you for what you did for them and for the Lord.  There is a haunting scene at the end of the Jack Nicholson movie, “About Schmidt” where a voiceover says that when he dies and his immediate family die, no one will ever know that he ever lived.  Don’t live your life in such a way where that could be true for you.  Memories about you and your legacy won’t be what you did for yourself.  The primary desire/goal of your life is to be motivated by what you can do to serve and help others.  And because you are doing so, you are fulfilling the purpose for which the Lord called you.  And because you are fulfilling His purpose for your life, you never need to fear death.