Paul’s Love of Jesus
‘For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far’ Philippians 1:21-23
Paul is in prison and he’s wondering “Will I survive this wretched place and be released to visit these wonderful believers in Philippi, or will the Romans decide I’m better off dead?”
“… better off dead?” How amazing. Paul agrees with them that he would be better off dead.
Did the great apostle have a death wish? Was he morbidly depressed? ‘No’ to both. He overwhelmingly wanted to be with Jesus. “Do you mean he wanted to be in heaven?” That’s not quite the same thing.
When things get too hard for us on earth, we seem to find heaven attractive. Our motives are very mixed. We want to be in heaven because we really don’t want to be on earth any longer.
Paul’s circumstances were harder than ours ever will be but his great desire was ‘to depart and be with Christ,’ not to depart to be in heaven. There is a difference, albeit a subtle one. His motives were pure. He loved Jesus so much that the thought of being in His unhindered presence was glorious.
Do you love Jesus? I really hope you do. Paul loved Him so much that only the knowledge that Jesus might want him to stay on earth kept him here. That’s the true measure of our love for Him.
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