PHILIPPIANS 2:19-21 – “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.”
THEME OF THE DAY: HOW TO LIVE A MISERABLE LIFE. No one wants to pursue today’s devotion theme. Yet, too many people are there, even Christians. To unfold our theme, we want to identify three ways we will find ourselves living miserable lives.
The first cause of a miserable life occurred way back in the Garden of Eden with the entrance of sin into the human experience. Adam and Eve thought they would achieve real happiness by going against God’s clear command of warning only to discover the opposite. They brought complete misery into every human life without a cure in the strength of self. A good summary of the miserable life due to sin is the opening verses of the Apostle Paul’s second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians – “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Misery comes from living by the passions of our flesh and sinful desires of the body and mind.
A second way to bring about a miserable life is to refuse the One who is the only One to free us from a miserable life – the Lord Jesus through His Gospel. Remember the rich young man and his encounter with Jesus? Here it is – “And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Matthew 19:16-22). He rejected Christ and discovered, even more so, that he brought upon himself a most miserable life by doing so.
The final cause of a miserable life is tied into today’s scripture and only applies to the Christian. The believer in Christ has been delivered from the first cause of a miserable life – sin. He or she also experiences the joy of walking with Jesus who delivers one from a miserable life by belief in Him (John 1:12). However, a Christian may live a miserable life by simply being selfish; to put the emphasis in life on “I, me, and mine” not “He, His, Him, and others.” Selfishness is so deceptive and especially so in Christians because it sets us on a futile course to find what is only in Christ – happiness and that through slaying the misery of selfishness in order to walk in the joy of selflessness.
PRAYER: Father, teach me to live the freedom I have in Your Son; the freedom from selfishness and self-love.
REFLECTION: Selfish people are miserable and deceived because they seek happiness through self-centeredness instead of Christ-centeredness.