How much are you worth dead or alive? For Billy the Kid that question was answered by the Governor of New Mexico: $500. It did not matter if bounty hunters brought him dead or alive. Well, I guess it did matter to William H. Bonney and his parents when he was in fact shot dead at age 21. Would you rather live or die? Would you prefer your kids to live or die? Those sound like crazy questions. Yet here comes the Apostle Paul:
“For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.”
(Philippians 1:21 – Watchword for the Week of Sunday 21 September 2014)
Really? Dying as a good thing? Wouldn’t every sane person chose life over death? Is Paul suicidal?
As a matter of fact, we all say those things from time and to time and they make perfect sense in the right context. When comforting the bereaved phrases like “She’s in a better place now” are perfectly true. Ultimately we have to say both:
1. God put me on this planet to live and bloom where I am planted.
2. And when I wither, I am just as much in God’s hands as I have always been.
Dead or alive you are priceless to God and the price that was paid for you goes by the name of Jesus Christ.
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