Between 40 and 45 years ago I was challenged to choose a life verse: a verse that would challenge, encourage and direct my life and, at the end, sum up what my life stood for. I somehow chose Philippians 1:21. I’m not sure what prompted that choice, but I am glad to say that, for me, it was a great one. I have been challenged by it, over and over again.

Early this morning while I was driving to work I heard a song that reminded me again of my life verse. See and hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obyCBevabGk. Performed by Sidewalk Prophets, it is called “To Live Is Christ”.

Philippians 1:21 (KJV)
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Perhaps a little background information would be helpful before I tell you why this verse is so important and special to me. The Apostle Paul, writing from prison in Rome to a supporting church in Philippi, opens his letter to them by explaining how the things that have happened to him recently, things that would seem to be harmful and hampering to his purpose to preach the gospel, have actually given him and others opportunity to share the gospel in a greater way. Certainly some people have used Paul’s imprisonment as an opportunity to malign his ministry and to seek to make a name for themselves and build up their reputation at his expense. He does not condone their motives but he rejoices that the gospel is being shared nonetheless. Then he presents his driving desire to the Philippians.

For to me

This is a personal choice. It cannot be made by another for me. It cannot be forced upon me. I have to decide what will be important to me in life. I have to decide what I will value, what I will pursue in life. The direction my life takes will be determined by that choice. The choices of my life will be influenced by what I decide to make my priority. I must choose wisely. Paul was confident in his choice, believing that, “according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed… .”

Christine Caine, in her book Unashamed, shares about the time she hurriedly and thoughtlessly caught a train she thought was heading into the city where she went to school, but discovered that it was an express train headed in the opposite direction far from the city. The distress and sickening feeling of heading in the wrong direction flooded her mind. But there was nothing she could do about it.

She concludes:

“When the train stopped, I rose, still numb from my mistake. When the doors opened I stepped onto the platform — and moaned aloud, ‘How did I get here?’ The stationmaster happened to be standing nearby. He looked at me with a grin and said, “Well, young lady, you got on the wrong train, didn’t you?”

How much time have we wasted by heading in the wrong direction. Can you imagine the sickening feeling that some people must experience, having reached the end of their lives realizing that they have been pursuing the wrong direction all along? Wrong decisions can be very costly.

Sin takes us farther than we planned to go, keeps us longer than we planned to stay, and costs us more than we planned to pay.

To live is Christ

Paul puts it this way, “So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” The I AM Second movement has it right. My life is not about ME! It’s not about what I can accomplish, how much I can earn, the experiences I can enjoy, the things I can do, the people I can know and who can appreciate ME. Living for Christ means living for others, because he himself reminds us that he came, not to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45; John 13:15-16; Luke 19:10). Life is most rewarding and satisfying when it is lived with a focus on others and away from ourselves. A time came in Paul’s life when he found that the things that had motivated him and that he had been pursuing were a waste.

Philippians 3:7-8 (NKJV)
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ …

To die is gain

Paul’s dilemma was this: On the one hand, he wanted to be finished with this life, and all of its pain, sorrow, and trials. He wanted to be with Jesus, because that was “far better.” On the other hand, he felt the need to remain in this life to continue preaching the gospel and building up Christians. The Philippians and others “needed him.” Paul knew that the time would come when he would finish his course and receive the crown of righteousness laid up for him. He did not fear death, but welcomed it, knowing that it would initiate a whole new existence of eternal bliss.

Living to die or dying to live?

What are you living for? Have you chosen a life verse to challenge and encourage you? Some people simply live their lives trying to make it through each day with as little trouble as possible and acquiring as much as possible. They look no further. They are living to die.

Others are dying to live. They have renounced their selfish desires and pursuits to seek the will of their Master, Jesus Christ. They have found that in losing these selfish desires they have gained everything. They have found that the only life that matters and, in the end, the only life that offers real hope is a life lived in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.