| Therefore my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. | ||
| Philippians 4:1 | ||
| Whenever you come to the word, ‘therefore’ in Scripture, it’s wise to stop and ask what it’s there for. Here at the outset of Chapter 4, Paul refers to the end of Chapter 3, wherein he tells us we don’t have to be hopeless as we watch our culture crumble, for when Jesus returns, He’ll put all things in order. In light of the fact that the Lord’s return is at hand, Paul tells the Church at Philippi to stand fast, to stand confidently, to stand firmly in Him. More and more, I’m convinced that heaven is the whole deal — just realizing that we’re soon going to be there and that we have a single job to do: to grab as many people as we can and say, ‘Come along with us to heaven.’ I think we worry far too much about what we’re doing or how we’re feeling. We analyze ourselves endlessly. We scrutinize our situations continually. We ponder our circumstances tirelessly. But in reality, the joy, the crown lies in sharing with people who don’t know Jesus, in praying for folks who will be cut off from Him unless they open their heart to Him. I believe the reason Paul could talk so much about joy in this epistle — even while he was in chains — was because he was thinking about the people he knew would be in heaven with him eternally because he had shared with them personally. | ||
