Living and dying with Christ
Paul wrote this from prison, not knowing whether he would be released or executed. Yet his letter is full of joy, because his life was never about his circumstances. It was about Christ.
When Christ is the center of life, death loses its sting and today gains its meaning. It frees us to live fully now, and to face the end without fear.
Jesus, You are my life. Let everything I do today be for You, and teach me to trust You with both my life and my end. Amen.
κέρδος (kerdos (KER-dos)). “Gain,” a word from the language of business meaning profit. Paul says that even death, which looks like loss, is a profit when it brings him fully to Christ.
Philippians is one of Paul’s prison letters, traditionally linked to his imprisonment in Rome around AD 60–62. It is also known as the letter of joy, with the word “rejoice” appearing many times.
Henry Martyn, a young English chaplain and linguist, died at Tokat in what is now Turkey, aged 31. He had translated the New Testament into Urdu and Persian, and his short life inspired generations of missionaries.