To Live is Christ

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21)

Everyone has a favorite television show. I like anything that has to do with history, mystery and suspense. I ran across an interesting statistic the other day though about watching TV. It has been determined that the average American spends 15 years of his or her life in front of the television set—15 years. 50% of Americans watch it during dinner with their family. I am not saying we cannot watch TV. Sure, we need to watch things that honor Christ and bring us closer to Him, but we can sure waste a lot of time in front of it. I sure have.

I am a channel surfer. My wife likes to watch HGTV and anything to do with weddings and babies. Some of that is ok, but to me is not fun. Therefore, I try to gain possession of the remote so I can start clicking. I like to watch about eight things at once. Yet I have been amazed at how I will sit down and say, "I am going to watch TV for thirty minutes," but when I look at my watch, hours have gone by. I have wasted all that time and feel half brain-dead as a result. Someone once said, “Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you would not have in your home.”

Is the purpose of this article to be against television? Certainly not. My purpose is to ask “What are we living for and spending our lives on?” We can squander time watching television, but we can squander time doing other things as well. So let's not throw our lives away. Let's wisely use the precious moments God gives to us each day, each month, and each year, and let's use them for Him. We will stand before Him on that final day. We should be able to sum up our lives like the apostle Paul and say, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). Only the person who can say, "To live is Christ" can then say, "To die is gain."

Some people might say, "To me, to live is sports," or "To me, to live is music." Everyone lives for something. It’s important to know that what you spend time, effort, money and resources on is what you live for. Now, everyone has hobbies and interests. That’s not what I’m speaking of. I’m speaking about what drives you. What is it that motivates your life? Is it the next reality TV show? Is it a particular sport? Is it your kids? Or is it Christ?

Christ lived for us. He also died for us. Shouldn’t we live for Him in return? Shouldn’t His love for us and our love for Him be our motivation for life? I challenge you to inspect your lifestyle and allow Jesus to be your motivation for living. What do you live for? How great it is to be able to say, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."