DAY 40 — The Pearl: Christ Is My Life
DAY 40 — The Pearl: Christ Is My Life
“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” — Philippians 1:21 (NKJV)
Treasure to Possess
The greatest pearl I could ever possess is not something Jesus gives me but Jesus Himself. The exchanged life ultimately brings me to this beautiful revelation: I gave Him my life, and He gave me His.
Christ Is My Life
We began this journey looking for pearls in a letter written from a prison cell. Along the way we discovered promises to believe, principles to live, prophecies to anticipate, and treasures worth possessing. Yet after forty days of searching through Philippians, perhaps we have discovered that all the pearls ultimately lead us to one magnificent treasure—Jesus Himself.
Paul had accomplishments, education, religious credentials, influence, relationships, successes, failures, joys, disappointments, abundance, suffering, and even imprisonment. Yet when everything else was stripped away, he could summarize his entire existence with five simple words: “For to me, to live is Christ.”
That is more than a beautiful Scripture to memorize. It is an invitation into an entirely different way of living.
Most of us begin our journey with Jesus thinking primarily about what He can do for us. We need forgiveness, healing, peace, provision, direction, help, or eternal life, and thankfully He meets us in those places. But as we continue walking with Him, something begins to change. Eventually our hearts begin moving from simply wanting what Jesus can give us to wanting Jesus Himself.
That is where the exchanged life becomes so beautiful. Christianity was never meant to be Jesus added to the life I had already planned. The gospel invites me into something much greater: my life surrendered to Him so that His life can increasingly be expressed through me.
I give Him my weakness, and I discover His strength. I give Him my anxiety, and I discover His peace. I give Him my condemnation, and I discover His righteousness. I give Him my self-reliance, and I discover His grace. I give Him my wounds, disappointments, failures, plans, ambitions, gifts, relationships, possessions, and future, and somewhere in the surrender I discover that I have not lost my life at all. I have finally discovered what life was always meant to be.
What a beautiful exchange.
The pearl has always carried this message. Something ordinary encounters irritation and pressure, and layer by layer something precious begins to form. In the same way, God has used victories and disappointments, answered prayers and unanswered questions, mountaintops and valleys, people who loved us and even people who wounded us to continue His work within us.
We are still pearls in progress.
After forty days, none of us has arrived. There are still areas being transformed, attitudes being surrendered, thoughts being renewed, wounds being healed, and parts of our lives where Jesus is teaching us to trust Him more deeply. But we can rest in the promise with which Paul began this letter: “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.” The One who started forming the pearl has not stopped working.
Maybe that is one of the greatest revelations we can carry away from Philippians. The Christian life is not primarily about trying harder to become like Jesus. It is learning to trust and depend more upon the Jesus who already lives within us, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out.
We do not have to manufacture the life of Christ. We are called to manifest the life of Christ.
That changes the way I approach tomorrow. Instead of waking up thinking, “I need to try harder to be a better Christian today,” I can begin by saying, “Jesus, this day belongs to You. Holy Spirit, live the life of Christ through me. Love through me, speak through me, serve through me, give through me, and let the people I encounter experience something of Jesus because they encountered me.”
The goal is not for people to be impressed with how spiritual we have become. The goal is for Jesus to become increasingly visible through our ordinary lives. When people encounter our kindness, generosity, patience, forgiveness, joy, peace, gentleness, and love, perhaps they are catching a glimpse of the treasure we have found.
And the greatest evidence that we are truly knowing Him will always be love. The more I know Him, the more I love Him, and the more I love Him, the more His love changes the way I see and treat the people around me. If my revelation makes me more impressive but not more loving, I have missed something important about Jesus.
After all these pearls, I find myself returning to the same cry Paul expressed: “That I may know Him.” I want to know His heart, recognize His voice, experience His presence, walk in His love, and allow His life to become increasingly visible through mine. Whatever years remain before me, I want them to be marked by a deeper knowledge of Jesus and a greater expression of His love.
Perhaps that is the pearl worth everything. It is not merely a better life, greater success, deeper revelation, more blessings, or even more effective ministry. The treasure is Jesus, and when I possess Him, I discover that He has possessed my heart as well.
So the journey does not really end with Day 40. Tomorrow morning there will still be another opportunity to surrender, another person to love, another thought to renew, another burden to release, another step of faith to take, and another layer of the pearl God is forming within us.
The prayer of my heart for the rest of my journey is beautifully simple. I want to know Him more deeply, love Him more completely, and allow Him to love others through me more freely. I am a pearl in progress, and the One working in me always finishes what He starts.
In the end, every pearl has led me back to the greatest treasure of all. Jesus is not merely part of my life; Christ is my life.
Prayer of Faith
Precious Heavenly Father, thank You for every pearl You have revealed through this journey. Thank You for every promise, principle, prophecy, and treasure that has drawn me deeper into Your heart, but above everything else, thank You for Jesus. I do not simply want what You can give me; I want to know You more deeply and live every remaining day of my life in fellowship with You.
Holy Spirit, continue the work You have begun within me. Transform the areas that still need transforming, renew the places in my thinking that still need renewing, and teach me to trust and depend upon You instead of struggling in my own strength. I surrender my life again and ask You to make Jesus increasingly visible through everything I say and do.
Let His love become my love, His strength become my strength, His peace rule my heart, and His grace flow through my life. As I know Him more deeply, help me love Him more completely, and as I love Him more completely, let that love overflow toward every person You place in my path.
I am still a pearl in progress, but I trust the One who is forming me. You began this good work within me, and I believe You will faithfully finish what You started. For the rest of my life, let the cry of my heart remain the same: to know Him, to love Him, and to allow His life to be expressed through me.
I am loved by You, precious Heavenly Father, filled with Your Holy Spirit, and alive in You, my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. In the powerful name of Jesus, amen.
