Living with a high purpose

If I asked you the reader to complete the following sentence, “For me to live is ..., and to die is...”, would it be something to this effect?

For me to live is: great wealth, good health, success, power, pleasure. To die is loss, an unsure future, eternal life with God.

While wealth and health and success and power and pleasure are all good things, none go with us to the grave and none assure us of any form of life after death. There has to be something more worth while in this life to live for and to die for.

The apostle Paul wrote in (Philippians 1:21), “For me to live is CHRIST, and to die is GAIN.” In (chapter 3:4-8) Paul reflects on his life a Hebrew of Hebrews a lover of the laws of God and the traditions of men but after encountering the saving grace of Jesus Christ he valued all those things as rubbish.

In fact, the more he surrendered to God’s grace to God’s Word the more he gained of Christ. Paul had found his high purpose, living for Jesus Christ. Death would be the ultimate gain, itself possessing Christ totally.

Born Again Believer, there should be no greater passion and purpose in life than to live for Christ and no fear of death because it means gain.

What a rich assurance is ours in Jesus. Is this true for you?

Pastor Dirk Coetzee, Grahamstown Baptist Church.