Morning, January 7
Go To Evening Reading
“For me to live is Christ.”
Philippians 1:21
The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when
God the Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was
brought to see the dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt.
From the moment of the new and celestial birth the man begins to live
to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for
whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely
won our love, that it beats alone for him; to his glory we would live,
and in defence of his gospel we would die; he is the pattern of our
life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character.
Paul’s words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim and end of his life was Christ—nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint,
he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very
breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of
his life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up
to this idea? Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ?
Your business—are you doing it for Christ ? Is it not done for self- aggrandizement and for family advantage?
Do you ask, “Is that a mean reason?” For the Christian it is. He professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another
object without committing a spiritual adultery? Many there are who
carry out this principle in some measure; but who is there that dare
say that he hath lived wholly for Christ as the apostle did? Yet,
this alone is the true life of a Christian—its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up
in one word—Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live
only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between
the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my
motto be, “Ready for either.”