Greatest Gain

In Philippians 1:21

"To live is Christ and to die is gain."

In the culture of the United States, death is rarely ever considered a gain. But there's something about Paul's words in Philippians that turns things upside down. In fact, there's something about Christianity and the belief in the Almighty God that flips the human perspective. What is ordinarily ugly becomes beautiful with Christ in view. What is typically discouraging can be full of hope when seen in the light of God's love and grace. And what is typically a terrible loss can be counted a great gain.

I often wonder about what happens after death. We even had a family discussion about this in our kitchen this afternoon. Does time exist when you die? Are you just asleep or are you with the Lord? Are you waiting or are you active? When is the spiritual resurrection of the soul? What do you do when you die? Needless to say, we spent a lot of time thinking about these questions around the kitchen table, but we came up with little certainty. As a general statement, I think we spend too much time focusing on what we don't know, and too little time dwelling on and hoping for what we do know: "To live is Christ and to die is gain."

Sara Groves wrote a song called "What Do I Know." In it, she says:

Death can be so inconvenient.
You try to live and love,
it comes and interrupts.
And what do I know?
What do I know?

Well I don't know that there are harps in heaven
Or the process for earning your wings.
And I don't know of bright lights at the end of tunnels,
Or any of these things

But I know to be absent from this body
is to be present with the Lord.
And from what I know of Him
that must be very good.

When I think about death, there is so much that I don't know, that I don't understand. But there is one thing I know for sure. To be in the presence of the Lord is the greatest gain. And in this beauty I place all my hope.

In honor of a sweet friend, Nancy Gill, and in honor of her precious family. We love you very much.