Sermons for my soul

This verse has been darting in and out of my mind over the past months...

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21

The meaning has only recently been sinking in really deep, despite the fact that I've heard it repeated countless times over the years. Maybe it's because I wasn't really fully alive, and I wasn't 100% switched on to life. My body was here, but I was stuck somewhere else. But that's another story for another day. :)

The key to unlocking my heart, mind and soul to this verse was when I heard Stuart Briscoe speak at PJEFC one evening in April.

Stuart said that this verse is talking about is a win-win situation in life. What Stuart said somehow rang a bell in me. No matter what happens, I will only stand to gain since my life is lived in and for Christ. If I live, I live for Christ. If I die, I go to be with Christ. Now, what a positive dilemma, isn't it?

Contrast that with the oft quoted dilemma by Shakespeare's Hamlet, "To be or not to be, that is the Question."

Stuart explained that what Shakespeare was referring to was the despair and hopelessness of someone who didn't want to continue living because life was dreadful, and yet couldn't bear to kill himself because he didn't know where he would end up on that one-way journey to the next life. He wanted to escape this life, yet could not bear the risk of the unknown. What a sad state of affairs.

But we don't have to despair. Just think about it. What is the worst that could happen to you? Even if you dropped dead tonight?

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (read Phil 1:20-26 for context)

Life is worth living, because there is something worth dying for.