Philippians 1:1-30
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will … What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed… (vv. 15, 18a) In our Men’s Group meeting last night these verses came up as part of our discussion. We were talking about what people say (about God, about Jesus…) and whether their words are genuine or simply spoken without much regard to what they have said. We so easily/quickly say “God bless you” without thinking much about God’s real blessing upon that person. It’s why I’ve taken to saying “The Lord bless you.” It rings differently than “God bless you” and people respond differently, even meaningfully to me, very often thanking me for saying that. And for me, it is sincere.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. … Convinced of this, I know that I will remain… (vv. 21, 25a) I note in the second link below that I often quote this verse, but again it has real meaning for me. There was an incident on June 29, 2015 when I was driving back in the evening from EKU, having just finished my last class before my (formal) retirement. It’s a longer story, but I felt that I was (if you will) miraculously delivered from serious injury or even death. And while I can’t say that it was “a word from the Lord”, from that point on I have believed that I will live long on this earth. Time will tell!
See also: July 26 / Philippians 1:1-18; July 27 / Philippians 1:19-30