PAUL’S DESIRE TO DEPART!

Saturday, February 8, 2020

PAUL’S DESIRE TO DEPART!

Phil 1:23-24

23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

           To misunderstand the concept of having a “desire to depart” is to be earthbound in one’s thinking. It excludes the belief in an afterlife and heaven. It adds horror to the idea of death and the possibility of hell. It celebrates doubt and questions faith.

           So, how does one arrive at a longing to leave the earth and to be with Christ? Well, for Paul, it may be because he had already experienced such a departure. This is more than hinted at in Second Corinthians chapter twelve.

2 Cor 12:3-4

3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)

4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

           Paul had been so changed in his thinking by his encounter with Christ on the Damascus road that he could not deny any longer the reality of Messiah and His message. Having received a taste of heaven which he explains as “unspeakable” and “unlawful for man to utter,” he is left with a desire to return.

Dear Lord, let us look forward to meeting you without fear. Help us to hold loosely to the threads of earth and tightly to the cords of heaven. AMEN