Philippians 1:21 For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

We have just come to the end of the college football season and the end of the NFL season is fast approaching. If you watch many of these games you will find people that are fans. Maybe even superfans! These are the kind that go to great lengths to show their team spirit. They are way past wearing a team jersey and paint their faces in team colors. In extreme cases they watch the game with no shirt, having painted their bodies as well, even in cold weather! They are all in!

Paul had lived a lot of life by the time he wrote Philippians. He had been a rising star as a Pharisee. He was a Roman citizen. He was well-educated. He became a Christian and traveled and preached and started churches. He had also been beaten repeatedly. He’d been stoned. He had been shipwrecked. Now he was in prison. All of his suffering came as a result of his spreading the Gospel.

You could say that Paul was a fan of the Gospel. But he wasn’t just a casual fan. He wasn’t the kind that gets excited for the Super Bowl but you know it’s really just for the party! He wasn’t a fair weather fan whose loyalty waxes and wanes with the teams win/loss record.
He was the kind of fan that’s in for the long haul. Win or lose wearing the colors and walking tall.

He looked at all that had happened to him as a badge of honor! Not because he had some psychological issue. But because he had been found worthy to suffer for Jesus! When Paul became a Christian, he went all in. It was complete dedication. He was there for all of it. Suffering or comfort. Plenty or want. Well-fed or hungry. He knew that when this life was over He would be with the Lord. While it lasted, he had distilled its essence to six words.

For me to live is Christ.

But the thing is, that’s how we’re all supposed to live. Am I all in? Are you?

 

Blessings,

Pastor Russ