“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel…” (Philippians 1:27, NRSV)
“Back in 1979, speaker and author Dennis Waitley once found himself racing to catch a flight. He was on his way from Chicago to Los Angeles and had to board DC10 flight 191 to deliver a speech later in the day. But this time he didn’t get there on time. Furious to see the gate agent lock the door just as he arrived, he pleaded with her to open the gate and let him board. She refused, and fuming, Waitley left the boarding area to complain, but only twenty minutes later, the news came through that the plane he had missed had just crashed on take-off, killing everyone on board. Instantly, his anger and disappointment turned to shock, and later to gratitude. He left the ticket line and checked into a room at an airport hotel. He knelt beside his bed and then tried to get some sleep. Instead of returning the unused ticket for a refund, he decided to keep it and put it on his office notice board at home. It’s a silent reminder, because every so often if he gets annoyed at something, his wife Susan leads him by the hand through to the notice board to take a look at his flight 191 ticket. Waitley says, “Every day is a gift to be lived to the full.”” (from section on attitude in Hot Illustrations).
As Dennis Waitley found out, life is precious. There is no guarantee you will be alive tomorrow. You have a limited amount of time in this life to accomplish something. What will you spend your life doing? It’s all too easy to forget to use your time wisely, to thank God for your days, and to value every moment. Attitude is everything.
At the end of the movie, “Saving Private Ryan”, there is a moment of reflection. Private Ryan looks back on his life, back at the soldiers who didn’t come home because they were saving his life, back on his accomplishments and failures. As Ryan remembers all these things, he says, “"I Hope That, At Least In Your Eyes, I've Earned What All of You Have Done For Me.” Ryan wanted his life to amount to something. He wanted the sacrifice of his friends to be worth it. His attitude was one of respect for the dead and honor for their sacrifice.
At some point in your life, you will have to answer for your life-choices. It may be at a crucial moment in your life or at the end of your life when you will have to face up to your successes and failures. At that moment, you will probably do a self-evaluation. Was your life a blessing? Did you matter? Were all the sacrifices of family and friends worth the effort? Did you make a difference? Did you throw your life away?
I have no doubt that the Apostle Paul had moments when he did a self-evaluation. One of those moments occurs in the scripture reading for today. It is believed that Paul wrote the biblical letter of Philippians around 60 AD. At that time, he was already under house arrest in Rome. He was awaiting his final sentence for being a Christian, as Christianity was frowned upon in the Roman Empire. As Paul waited for his final sentencing, which ultimately resulted in his death, Paul wrote in Philippians 1:27: “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ”. Paul wanted every one of his readers to be aware of their actions and choices. He wanted them all to live a life “worthy of the gospel of Christ”.
Are you living a life worthy of the gospel of Christ?
Austin lives in Tennessee. He has worked as an accountant for decades. He was always good with numbers. He earned a good salary. He attended the same church his whole life. Austin married his high school sweetheart and had two wonderful children who are now grown up and living out of state. A year ago, Austin was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors put him on an experimental treatment but only gave him a 50% chance of living longer than two years.
When Austin got that prognosis, it hit him hard. He began to reevaluate his priorities, choices, and decisions. There were so many things in his life left undone. He saved for years for his retirement, postponed family vacations to save money, promised himself that he’d do more for his church after he retired. Now, there may not be a retirement. He may not have time to do everything he had hoped for and planned for the “rest” of his life.
Austin suffered through many sleepless nights. He would wake up in the middle of the night and worry about the cancer treatments, fret about his family’s future if he didn’t make it, stress out about decisions that might or might not come in the next year or two. Austin’s world felt like it was completely unraveling.
At a worship service at Austin’s church on Easter, the pastor spoke about Jesus’ life. The pastor shared with the congregation about Jesus’ suffering and His pain on the cross. The pastor pointed out that Jesus only lived to about 30 years of age. The Easter story hit Austin like a bolt of lightning out of the blue. Austin noted how Jesus faced death without fear. Austin let go of his worries. He gave them to God. He resolved himself to live day by day through it all. A peace settled over his soul. Austin vowed to do things differently with the time he had left. He was going to make some changes, make a difference, make better choices.
How do you live your life? How do you make choices? Do you see every day as a gift? Do you put off things until tomorrow that are important enough to do today? What would Jesus have you do differently? Are you living a life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
As Dennis Waitley found out, life is precious. There is no guarantee you will be alive tomorrow. You have a limited amount of time in this life to accomplish something. What will you spend your life doing? It’s all too easy to forget to use your time wisely, to thank God for your days, and to value every moment. Attitude is everything.
At the end of the movie, “Saving Private Ryan”, there is a moment of reflection. Private Ryan looks back on his life, back at the soldiers who didn’t come home because they were saving his life, back on his accomplishments and failures. As Ryan remembers all these things, he says, “"I Hope That, At Least In Your Eyes, I've Earned What All of You Have Done For Me.” Ryan wanted his life to amount to something. He wanted the sacrifice of his friends to be worth it. His attitude was one of respect for the dead and honor for their sacrifice.
At some point in your life, you will have to answer for your life-choices. It may be at a crucial moment in your life or at the end of your life when you will have to face up to your successes and failures. At that moment, you will probably do a self-evaluation. Was your life a blessing? Did you matter? Were all the sacrifices of family and friends worth the effort? Did you make a difference? Did you throw your life away?
I have no doubt that the Apostle Paul had moments when he did a self-evaluation. One of those moments occurs in the scripture reading for today. It is believed that Paul wrote the biblical letter of Philippians around 60 AD. At that time, he was already under house arrest in Rome. He was awaiting his final sentence for being a Christian, as Christianity was frowned upon in the Roman Empire. As Paul waited for his final sentencing, which ultimately resulted in his death, Paul wrote in Philippians 1:27: “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ”. Paul wanted every one of his readers to be aware of their actions and choices. He wanted them all to live a life “worthy of the gospel of Christ”.
Are you living a life worthy of the gospel of Christ?
Austin lives in Tennessee. He has worked as an accountant for decades. He was always good with numbers. He earned a good salary. He attended the same church his whole life. Austin married his high school sweetheart and had two wonderful children who are now grown up and living out of state. A year ago, Austin was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors put him on an experimental treatment but only gave him a 50% chance of living longer than two years.
When Austin got that prognosis, it hit him hard. He began to reevaluate his priorities, choices, and decisions. There were so many things in his life left undone. He saved for years for his retirement, postponed family vacations to save money, promised himself that he’d do more for his church after he retired. Now, there may not be a retirement. He may not have time to do everything he had hoped for and planned for the “rest” of his life.
Austin suffered through many sleepless nights. He would wake up in the middle of the night and worry about the cancer treatments, fret about his family’s future if he didn’t make it, stress out about decisions that might or might not come in the next year or two. Austin’s world felt like it was completely unraveling.
At a worship service at Austin’s church on Easter, the pastor spoke about Jesus’ life. The pastor shared with the congregation about Jesus’ suffering and His pain on the cross. The pastor pointed out that Jesus only lived to about 30 years of age. The Easter story hit Austin like a bolt of lightning out of the blue. Austin noted how Jesus faced death without fear. Austin let go of his worries. He gave them to God. He resolved himself to live day by day through it all. A peace settled over his soul. Austin vowed to do things differently with the time he had left. He was going to make some changes, make a difference, make better choices.
How do you live your life? How do you make choices? Do you see every day as a gift? Do you put off things until tomorrow that are important enough to do today? What would Jesus have you do differently? Are you living a life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ?