Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Operating Agenda

The scripture for my devotion this morning was Philippians 2:1-11. Paul David Tripp wrote the following as an application for life from this passage:
"And this sacrifice forms the operating agenda of the kingdom from that time on. Jesus, by his bleeding and broken body on the cross, not only gave the kingdom of God its life and hope, but its paradigm for living as well. That history-changing death on the cross is also the life-changing call of Christ to everyone who would follow him. And as it did on the cross, that willingness to die will always result in life. This kingdom is a kingdom of the cross, and everyone who celebrates that sacrifice is called to drag a cross along with them every day."
What is the real operating agenda of your life and mine? What is the paradigm through which we are approaching and living life today?

What caught my attention in reading the text in Philippians was what Paul says next (Philippians 2:12-17), specifically verses 14-16a: "do all things without grumbling or questioning (murmuring), that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life."

The way of the cross, the way of sacrifice, the way of Jesus in Philippians 2:5-11 is the paradigm for us to shine like lights in the darkness of the world. We are called to "light up the darkness" (from the movie I am Legend) with the light of the gospel. This is the way of "holding fast to the word of life" and holding it forth.