Morning By Morning #7

For to me, to live is Christ.

Philippians 1:21

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

No believer has ever lived his entire life for Christ. He began to do so only after God the Holy Spirit convicted him of sin and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Savior making a propitiation for his guilt—that is, becoming a sacrifice that satisfied the wrath of God for his sin. Only from that moment of new and heavenly birth did the new believer begin to live for Christ.

To believers, Jesus is the “one pearl of great price” (Matt. 13:46 KJV) for whom we are willing to forsake everything else we have. He has so completely become the love of our heart that it beats solely for Him. For His glory alone we live and we would willingly die to defend His gospel. He has become the pattern for our life and the model after which we sculpt our character.

Paul’s words here mean more than most people think. Many believe he was implying that Christ was the purpose and objective of his life. No! Paul’s life itself was Jesus. In the words of another ancient saint, “Paul ate, drank, and slept eternal life. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, and the life of his life.”

As a professing Christian, can you say that you live up to this ideal? Can you honestly say that for you “to live is Christ”? Are your business dealings done for Christ or are they done for your own benefit or that of your family?

Have you asked yourself, “Is my primary purpose in life to live for Christ?” For a Christian it should be. If someone professes to live for Christ, how can he live for another purpose without committing spiritual adultery?

Many Christians live for Him to a certain degree, but who can claim to live wholly for Him as the apostle Paul did? Yet this alone is the true life of a Christian. It is its source, its sustenance, its pattern, its purpose, all brought together in one person—Christ Jesus.

Lord, accept me. Today I present myself to You, praying to live only in You and for You. May I be as the bull standing between the plow and the altar—whether to work or to be sacrificed.

May my motto be: “I’m ready for either!”

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

What an incredible standard Spurgeon lays down for us! He asks, “Who can claim to live wholly for [Christ] as the apostle Paul did?”

Yet remember, believer, Paul was simply flesh and blood. He struggled with the same temptations that lead us to the “spiritual adultery” Spurgeon warns against. Who of us, however, can say without reservation, as Paul did, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice”? (Phil. 4:9). What a bold statement!

Yes, Paul was only a man, but the same Holy Spirit that empowered him indwells every believer. Therefore, what we see in Paul truly can be “put…into practice” in our lives through the power of the Spirit of God.

There is one thing, however, that we have to help us that Paul did not have as he began his walk with Christ—his letters that make up a major portion of the New Testament.

Why not read one of Paul’s letters today?