Marie’s daily verse:

1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 

DAILY DEVOTION, May 12, 2022

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

Paul knows two things. First, he was alive when he wrote the above words. What was the focus of his life? He was living for Jesus. He was serving Jesus. He was proclaiming the name of Jesus all over the ancient world. Yes, he had to do other things just as we do, but he never allowed anything to interfere with his main focus: Jesus. Can we make the same affirmation? Is Jesus the focal point of our lives? With Paul, can you say, “ For me to live is Christ”?

Second, Paul knew he would one day die. His mind was not filled with fear and doubt when he thought of death. Instead, he saw death as a “gain.” He knew that heaven was a vast improvement over this life. Paul suffered much. I think he was looking forward to his final departure. He would escape the pain of this life and enjoy the magnificence of heaven forever. Heaven is the mother of all gains. Trust Jesus, and heaven is yours as a gift of God’s grace. Serve Jesus, and He will reward you in ways we cannot begin to comprehend now. One of our hymns sums it up. “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”

Gracious and loving Father, help me to apply Paul’s simple sentence to my life. I want to live for Jesus. Help me overcome the fear of death and see it as a monumental gain. Great is Your name and greatly to be praised. In the blessed name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.