Monday, February 14, 2011
END TIMES READING PLAN: Leviticus 26
SCRIPTURE READING
Philippians 1:21-24 (NIV); For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Paul was able to say these words because he spoke with consistency. He truly desired to be face-to-face with Jesus, and he truly understood the necessity of his role in the body. For us, with our accumulation of comforts, the desires are a tad more inconsistent. When times are hard, especially in crises of health and wealth, we think that seeing Jesus would be a welcome release from the troubles of the world. But most of the time, our meeting Jesus is a long-off, abstract event reserved for some faraway time.
This talk of Paul’s is not some morbid, longing for death. He loved Jesus and longed to see His Lord – the One who had saved a sinner such as himself. To him, death would be a welcome passage because it meant even greater depth and intimacy with His Savior.
How many of us truly feel this way? How many of us actually love Jesus and know Jesus so personally that there is no fear in death, and we actually desire the day when we will see Him? How many of us can actually say we would be torn, had we to choose, not between video games, beach days and coffee, but between living to lead people closer to the King and being gathered into the presence of the King Himself?
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1) What are your feelings as you read today’s passage and teaching? What does the Spirit say as you read?
2) What do you honestly imagine when you think of leaving this body and departing to be with Christ? Which is more appealing to you?
3) Ask the Holy Spirit to refresh your view of Jesus and of eternity with Him. Though we don’t know everything about the New Heavens and the New Earth, we know that we will experience life as it was meant to be; life to the fullest! It will not be drab and boring.
4) How can you grow in your personal relationship with Jesus? Spend some time in prayer, conversing with Jesus and pressing into Him. Ask Him to give you a longing for deeper relationship with Him.
