To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain
Day 1
Soul Search
Do I too often get wrapped up in the world’s poor understanding of death, causing me anxiety and worry over it?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, please calm any fears that I may have in my life and about death. Please help me to find comfort in Your Word. To understand Your ways better and know that death, for the believer, is simply the shedding of this corrupt mortal body, for immortality with You. Thank You, Father, for giving me this promise of a wonderful eternity. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen
Day 2
Commentary
As we live our lives, God has given us the ability to have free will, just as those who don’t believe in Jesus also have. We can choose to live as we please; however, for the believer, there should be a great desire to please God first. Life for the born-again Christian is all about Jesus. Your life is now set apart to bring glory to God and to fulfill the mission that He has prepared for you from the beginning.
People should find you to be one of the most calming, trustworthy, comforting, and stable people to be around. Not because you’re trying so hard or putting on a front, but because you are submitting fully to Christ in all areas of your life. The result will be His Spirit working in you to show others His glory by your ministering to them.
Paul expressed perfectly the dilemma that we have when it comes to the desire to be with the Lord versus being here to minister to others. He knew it would be far better to be with the Lord in eternity, but understood that the Lord had him on Earth for ministry; God had a purpose for Paul, just as He has a purpose for you. You may not know it yet, but each believer has a ministry. You may not be a pastor or teacher, you may not have a website, team of people, or printed materials, but each believer is called to minister to their brothers and sisters and to the rest of the world for the sake of the Gospel. As you allow Jesus to work more and more in your life, He will make your ministry focus known to you.
Soul Search
Am I fully submitting all things to the Lord, allowing Him to guide me?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to fully submit all areas of my life to You. I know deep down that if I do, then life will be more purposeful for me as I do Your will. Truth be told, I don’t want to live trying to take control of everything in my life, when only You have the power to overcome. Today I submit all aspects of my life to You and ask that You use me to minister to others around me; a compass who is directly pointing to You. In Your mighty and precious name, I pray. Amen
Day 3
Commentary
Paul (then called Saul) was a man who had it all as a Pharisee. He was elite in his pedigree, as he described himself, a Hebrew born of Hebrews. He called himself blameless before the Law of Moses.
But when Christ changed Paul’s heart, Paul then came to understand that all of that pride in the flesh was worthless. He was now a man set on a mission for God, and his life was now set apart for Christ.
Brothers and sisters, that is you and me. Whatever worldly pride we had prior to faith or even its remains should be counted as a loss for Christ. As you live, you live now for eternal rewards, not to be recognized as the best at something, for your own glory, but to be the best for God’s glory.
Paul understood that losing everything that he thought was noteworthy was an excellent price to pay in order to have Jesus. Live now for Jesus, and tomorrow will be a far better day. Because regardless of whether you deal with trials and tribulations tomorrow or have a reprieve from such things, the hope of Christ will overcome it all.
Soul Search
Am I still seeking out recognition and material rewards from this world or am I living just to please Jesus?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, please help me to remove any pride that might still remain in my life. I don’t need rewards or accomplishments; I need You. May I live a life that is fully in Christ, performing all things in a way that glorifies You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen
Day 4
Commentary
Nothing will ever separate the believer from Jesus. This very much includes death, which in all actuality brings us closer to Jesus as our soul and spirit go on to be with Him at the very moment that they depart from the body.
The Bible teaches us that death is the ultimate passage from this broken and cursed world to eternal paradise. What God designed has been corrupted, but one day will be made new. That plan for new heavens and a new earth includes you, believer. It’s our hope while we live today and will be our reality in the future.
As you live today for Jesus, live it to the fullest for His glory. Rest in the peace of knowing that death has lost its sting because Jesus rose from the grave. I know it’s easier said than done, but there is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing that should drive the born-again believer in Jesus to fear or paralyzing anxiety. Because the ultimate fear of this world, being death, has been overcome for you, by the God who loves you more than you could ever fully understand.
Soul Search
Have I come to understand, as Paul did, that to live is Christ and to die is gain?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, please guide me today to what You want me to be doing. Maybe there is someone around me who needs the Gospel, maybe someone who needs help, comfort, or prayer. Please clear the noise out of my life, so that I can hear Your still, small voice directing my ways, until the day You bring me home to You. In Your wonderful name, I pray. Amen
Commentary
As followers of Christ, we have a unique state of mind that those of this world do not have. Life is all about Jesus, and death is no longer hanging over our heads as the “end of it all”. Our lives are no longer so precious to us that we’ll do anything to save them.
No, we now rest in the hope and promises of our Savior. Who holds our lives in His hand, who sustains our very wellbeing. From the smallest moment of your day to the monumental trials of your life.
While those of this world live for themselves, we live for our Redeemer. While this world sees death as the end, we know that death for the believer is only the beginning of things to come in eternity.
We can live as Christ leads, fearless, worry-free, hands and feet ready for what He leads us to do. When death comes, we lose nothing, but only gain in the glorious riches of our God, who has set aside wonderful things for us who love Him.
There is truly freedom in Christ, not only from the sins that once held you captive, but also in the handing over of your life to Jesus, because in Him you will find relief for the fears that plague us all.