For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21 NIV
To Live Is Christ
Canada’s oldest living woman, Margaret Romans, was born in Latvia in 1912 and moved to Montreal in 1947. What keeps her going? Gratitude, curiosity, and always looking forward, she says. “I say thank you God for bringing me and my family to this good country,” she told Global News in an interview at her seniors’ residence. Romans recalls only good memories from her life back in Latvia until the Soviet occupation in the 1940s. That’s when she and her late husband left for Canada — one of her fondest memories, she says.
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None of us know what the future holds. We do know that our bodies have an end date – we just don’t know what that date is. I’m glad I don’t know, and I suspect you are glad as well. The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth from a prison cell. He had no idea what the future held – would he be set free to continue his church planting and discipleship ministry, or would the Lord call him home while still in prison? How did Paul deal with this? He writes, in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is a key verse in Kingdom thinking. Paul was so aware that death was a necessary part of true Kingdom experience. It is the door through which we finally take our place in the Kingdom of God, fully. So, whenever it takes place, Paul was at total peace. Until then, his whole life was Jesus. As good as that is, death is even better. Let’s live with this Kingdom thinking today – to live is Christ, to die is gain.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley