Proud – And That's A Good Pride
Philippians 2:16, Devotional #8

Hold tightly to the word of life, so that when Christ returns, I will be proud that I did not lose the race and that my work was not useless.
Philippians 2:16
 
Father, I have wrestled with the thoughts of being proud because of the "work" that You do through my life. Paul sure was mighty thankful for how You worked through him. Today, as I ponder the work that You allow me to be a part of, I am "proud," full of gratitude - humbled. It's an awesome thing that You choose to use us humans, flawed as we may be, to accomplish Your work in the lives of others. We see changed lives all around us and there can't be any greater joy than to see You working in such a way. Thank You, Father. Thank You that You use us.

And my mind ponders: is what we are doing, what we are involved in, how we spend our lives and days . . . is it stuff that at the end of life, we will be able to look back and say that we "did not lose the race and that (our) work was not useless?" Will we look back with regret? Will we look back and wish for different priorities? What a good thing to ponder these things today.

I do know this. What we look back on someday and see will be the outcome of how we spend our lives today. My uncle died this summer and his obituary was fun to read. It was fun because he had made many good decisions daily leading up to that final day. His obituary appeared in the paper November 10 of last year but it began being written all the way back to the days when he was in high school. Fact is, somewhere down the way of life there will be an 'obit' written about us. And it will be written as a result of how we live our lives from this very day on.

What a wonderful thing - if the direction of our life needs to change, so be it, it can. So, may our "work" be useful, and may it be spent in areas that are pleasing to You, in areas that have eternal significance. Today, help us to examine in our lives and actions whatever You want examined. And may we continue to pursue hard after You each day and moment. Come Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Father, in Jesus name. Amen.