Passage
For our citizenship exists in heaven. Out of which we even await a savior: the Lord
Jesus Christ. He will change the state
of our lowly bodies to a form similar to His body of glory according to the functioning
of His power even to subject all things to Himself. Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brothers
and sisters – my crown and joy, in this way, beloved, stand in the Lord.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Our citizenship is in heaven. It’s a pretty plain and simple concept. We are not citizens here, although we do live
here and exist here. But our true place
of belonging is with God. I think I find
this to be one of the greatest struggles in life. How does one live as a citizen in heaven yet
exist in this world? Surely God doesn’t
want us to ignore this world. Yet, God
does not want us to embrace this world and become like it, either. This is one of the most difficult concepts to
continue to live out in balance.
Where in your life are you clearly a citizen in heaven? Where in life are you truly a citizen of this
world? Do you ever get caught in the
tension between the two?
Second Thought:
Largely because of this tension,
Paul tells us that we expect a savior to come.
Yes, Jesus Christ has already come once: to die. But when He returns, He will bring us into
the kingdom as full citizens. It is
Christ who has the power to transform us as beings of this world into beings of
the world to come. It is Christ who will
usher us fully and completely into the new age.
I don’t have the power to do it myself; Christ will do it with me –
perhaps for me is the better expression.
He has the power to subject all things to Himself.
When you think about Jesus as
spoken about in the Gospels, do you think of someone who was all-powerful and
someone who presented Himself as making all things subject to Himself? What can this teach us about servant
leadership and true use of power in a Christ-like fashion?
Third Thought:
Paul speaks about the Philippians as His crown, joy,
beloved, and longed-for. What a great
set of characteristics! Talk about
feeling loved and cherished! Yet, Paul doesn’t
let them only feel loved. Paul gives
them both invitation and challenge. The
invitation is the love. The challenge is
the command to stand firm. They are
beloved and cherished because of their faithful response to God! They need to keep up the faith!
Which do you respond to better: challenge or
invitation? Do you think both are
necessary? How would you respond to Paul
if you heard him speak 4:1 to you as the subject?
Passage for Tomorrow: Philippians 4:2-3
No comments:
Post a Comment