Philippians 3:17-4:1 (NRSV)
Read Philippians 3:17-4:1 on biblegateway.com
Verse 17Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. Verse 18For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Verse 19Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. Verse 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 21He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.
Chapter 4Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.
Devotion
The Apostle Paul’s love and devotion for his fledgling Philippian hearers is clear in our reading. “My dear brothers and sisters” frames his deep fondness for them as his “joy and crown” and calls them to stand firm in the Lord as loved and longed-for children of God.
But Paul somehow knows that, although the Lord promises life and salvation, we cannot go it on our own—as the examples of the painful people around them make clear. We need to be encouraged and instructed by the living examples of faith, who surround and encourage us in our journey. As Paul puts it, by following the living examples of faith, we are being trained to be citizens of heaven, and—can you believe it?—by the power of our Lord even being constantly transformed to imitate the glorious living body of our resurrected Lord!
Prayer
O Lord, our Savior, help us by faith to imitate those who are models of what it means to live each day as children of God. Let us continue to be trained as citizens of your heavenly kingdom. Amen.
Interested in digging deeper into today’s text?
Read more here.