Dear Reader
“For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)
As we enter a New Year, we do not know what is in store for us. We might live or we might not; we do not know, but the best would be to be translated to glory by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
With the freshness of the New Year and the desire to be better, we might make a New Year’s resolution that will start on the first day of the New Year. However, for the apostle Paul the first day of a new year was just the same as any other day. For to him to live was Christ all day and every day! Is that possible for us? Surely! Paul learned it in the school of God, under the teachings of the Holy Spirit, and so may we. Subdued by grace, he acknowledged the absolute authority of the Lord. Writing to the believers in Rome, he said; “None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself, for whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord’s” (Romans14:7,8).
It is, however, about our living that we are concerned. “Whether we live, we live unto the Lord.” Is this true for us? The fact is, if we are true believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, “we are the Lord’s,” and we must realize that if we are the Lord’s we must be subject to His authority. Because we have been attracted to Him, His grace has led us to bow to Him; we gladly own His claim and in loving obedience submit to His authority over our lives. We will learn this every day by reading our Bibles and staying in close communion with Him in prayer. This was true of Paul when he was working making tents as much as when he was going forth with Gospel, where he was unfolding the riches of the grace of God and teaching the whole counsel of God. Whether he was in prison or he was free, he could always say “for me to live is Christ.” So as we step out into a New Year, let us not simply resolve, but let us pray every day that it might be true of us: “for me to live is Christ.” That is reason we have been left here.
May the Lord use this issue of Toward the Mark to help you grow and be established as you read it. May you live for Him in 2020!
Thank you for your e-mails and notes of encouragement. Please keep praying for the Lord’s blessing on Toward the Mark.
Yours in our soon-coming Lord,
Emil S. Nashed
Please send your questions and comments to:
Toward The Mark
c/o Wayne Christian Assembly
60 Smith Lane
Wayne, NJ 07470-5354
Attention: Emil S. Nashed
www.towardthemark.org
