To Live is ?

Acts 4:13, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

The most important thing in Peter and John’s life was Jesus. That’s the one thing that jumped out at the Sanhedrin. They “TOOK NOTE” that Peter and John had been with Jesus. Jesus Himself was the essence of their lives.
I wonder what the ESSENCE of your life is.
How would you finish the following sentence:

“FOR TO ME, TO LIVE IS ____________”?

What would go in that blank? That’s what your life will be all about. How do we find out what the essence of our life is?
We could try testing to see what your life is all about maybe by how you spend your time.
In an average lifetime of 70 years, the average American spends:
Sleep: 23 years
Work: 16 years
TV: 8 years
Eating: 6 years
Travel: 6 years
Leisure: 4.5 years
Illness: 4 years
Dressing: 2 years
Religion: 0.5 years
TOTAL: 70 years

Paul said in Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV) Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

But time isn’t always the best indicator, is it? Some things take longer than others.

Perhaps money would be a good indicator of what should go in that blank.
The average person will spend $89,281 on food in their life.
If you could spend $500 right now freely, what would you get?
Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 (NIV) No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

But money isn’t always the best indicator, because some things cost a lot more than others. If we just looked at what your family spends the most money on, it would probably be your house, but I doubt most of you would say your parents live just for their home (unless they live in Lakewood Ranch!!! :) j/k )

If time and money are not the best indicators of what your life is about, perhaps your legacy is. What’s your legacy? It is the impression you’ve made on others.

“For to me, to live is ___________”.

People have filled in that blank with everything you can possibly imagine. They have written the sentence like this: “to live is money, to live is pleasure, to live is guys, to live is computers, to live is theatre, to live is being happy, to live is sports, to live is football, to live is music, to live is education, to live is ME…”
Paul said in Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
It’s more than just words, more than just a statement, ‘Oh yeah, to live is Christ’. Let me see what you spend your time on, what you talk about, what you’re willing to get up early for, or stay up late for, what consumes your thoughts, your money, your energy, your effort, your passion, and your relationships.
Can you look at your life and say, “To me, to live is Christ”? If not, what is your life all about? What is the center of YOU?

If your life is about anything other than CHRIST, then you can’t honestly say, “to die is gain”.
“To live is money, and to die is to lose it all.”
“To live is power, and to die is to hand it to someone else”.
“To live is this relationship, and to die is losing them”.
“To live is pleasure, and to die to never experience pleasure again”.

I pray we as a group will truly have Christ as our life and live all out for Jesus in this dark world.

-Pilgrim