40 Days in the Word - Day 22: Philippians 1:1-11

Verse 9-10
I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return.

My Thoughts: Paul, when he wrote Philippians, was in prison in Rome for preaching the Good News about Christ. Not being able to travel anymore, he wrote letters to the churches he had help to form, including the church at Philippi. As he prays for the Philippian church, he emphasizes his realization that the reason to gain understanding and knowledge in their new faith, was two-fold. One, to grow in love more and more. Second, to understand what really matters in life. The result was to live a pure and blameless life. To allow the word of Christ to richly dwell in me (Colossians 3:16), is to produce a pure and blameless life exemplified by an ever increasing love for God and for others. When we plan our day, set our calendar, and prioritize our tasks, this is the paradigm everything should filter through. This is what really matters in life. All else should flow out of it. For most of us, me included, our need to make money, have a roof over our heads, put food on the table, realize our ambitions, and just be plain busy, dominate our time. We then try to fit what is most important in life into our schedule. When I review my past week or even mouth and look at how much time I spent with God, my family, friends, or even my beloved pets, I find it to be very little. Paul is saying to prioritize God first and time for others before we plan any other event or task. For Paul, in chains, restricted and dependent in prison, it was clear what the priorities of life are. To live a pure and blameless life by loving God and others. Usually for me and most others, it takes some kind of tragedy, like illness or a national disaster, to get us realigned with what is most important in life: faith and those closest to me. Jesus Himself, summed all the commandments up into just two: Love God and love others and said if we keep these, we will fulfill everything else (Matthew 22:37-40).

Application: Relationships. These verses impact my heart.

Note: I missed Day 21 (The Resurrection: Mark 16:1-20) and will try to get back to it at the end of this series.