Living sacrifice

I'm beginning a four-week study of the book of Philippians that will be my last Bible Study in these churches. From time to time, I will share thoughts on the book as we move toward moving day for the second time in three Conference years.

Paul, after his greeting, says, "I thank God every time I mention you in my prayers. I'm thankful for all of you every time I pray, and it's always a prayer full of joy. I'm glad because of the way you have been my partners in the ministry of the gospel from the time you first believed until now." (CEB)

I've been blessed to have been in ministry with a lot of people over the past 15 years, some of whom I can't even remember their names but I remember their ministry, their faces, their hearts.

He continued, "I'm sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the joy by the day of Christ Jesus. I have good reason to think this way about all of you because I give you my heart."

And there you have it.

When I'm feeling low, He's there.
When I'm up and dancing, He's there.
When I'm absolutely sure I have no idea what I'm doing, He's there.
When I'm filled with ego and pride and way too much self-confidence, He's there.

I love Psalm 68 which tells me in the NLT, "Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms."

I fail Him with too much regularity.
When I succeed I too often take credit.

But it is He who carries us in his arms. It is he who started the work in us, and it is he who will finish it.

William Barclay says of this sentence in Philippians about starting and finishing, "The point is the words Paul uses for to begin (or started) enarchesthai and for to complete (or finish) epitelein are technical terms for the beginning and ending of a sacrifice.

In other words, he began the sacrifice for us and will end the sacrifice for us. We are living sacrifices to God.

"Paul is seeing the life of every Christian as a sacrifice ready to be offered to Jesus Christ. It is the same picture as the one that he draws in Romans when he urges Christians to present their bodies as a living sacrifice," Barclay writes.

We, us, all of us, are to sacrifice our lives, our hobbies, our interests, our time, our days, our nights, our jobs, our recreations, our families, everything to the one who sacrificed everything for us.

Pressure?
Sure.

Worth it?
Even more.