December 6, 2015    Volume 1, Issue 007

OPPORTUNITY AND THE MAKING OF HISTORY 4

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

– Phil 1:21

We are not to just lose our lives …, we are to lose it for the sake of Christ.

To be poured out as a drink offering to God’s glory and to the blessing of others is what life is about. We see the importance of the principle taught by Christ that those who lose their lives are those who would gain it. life is not for comfort, but for sacrifice and every blessing upon it is to advance God’s kingdom; increase in good works and be of blessing to people.

Even terrestrially noble men have practised this life principle and benefited from it. Look, from the scripture, at the widow of Zarephat; the boy with five loaves and two fishes; the Shunamite woman as examples. In the spiritual and eternally relevant sense, those who were called to follow Christ did, without the promise of gain. Overtime, however, they realised that there is gain of full reward in it for them. See Mark 10:28-30.

We are not to just lose our lives to find it, we are to lose it for the sake of Christ. We have reasons for this: for example, when He saved us, we lost our lives willingly to Him, for we came under His ownership; lordship; and covering. Since then we became dead and the life we now live is Christ himself living in us; Gal 2:20. We live no longer to self, but to the master and our existence is 1). for His glory only – Phil 1:20; 2). for the will of God, 1 Pet 4:1-3; and 3). for Him who died for us – 2 Cor 5:14-15. All these suggest that our lives should be sold out to serving God’s interest and representing Him in all of life.

If you would want to find your life, you would have to lose it as you cannot eat you cake and have it – Luk 9:57-62; you cannot hold unto one to gain another. In Luk 14:16-20, we see those who lost their life’s essence simply because of their investments, career and relationships or because of their wealth, work and wife. Whereas those who lose it to follow him got their lives advanced.

Do you know that true advancement comes in the pursuit of the purpose? Luk 5:1-6; If Paul did not die to self, he would have had his ministry buried; but look at him: from Antioch to Jerusalem; from Jerusalem to Tarsus; from Tarsus to Antioch; and from Antioch to the uttermost.

To be fulfilled in this life, we must die to self. It is the death of the seed that leads to the possibility of a harvest. The pouring out of all that you are and have is the only appropriate way to leave an indelible mark in the sands of time. There is no ‘if only’; whatever you desire to be tomorrow, assume it today. Give even when you have but little; pour out even with all the inhibitions around you. Procrastination is the key to regret. Do whatever your heart/hand finds to do. Get spent to die empty – 2 Cor 12:15; It is while we are here that we can bear fruit, Phil 1:22 and affect other people’s lives, Phil 1:25. The process of doing this is the gradual emptying of self, being poured out as libation, Phil 2:17; 2 Tim 4:6-8; so that the final death might be total emptiness.