1 Kings 12; Philippians 3; Ezekiel 42; Psalm 94

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ…I want to know Christ and the his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain the resurrection from the dead.  Philippians 3:7…10

I work in the world of cancer.  The patients who come through my doors are usually young, in the prime of their lives and have families and jobs.  Life as they have known it has come to a screeching halt.  They love life and will do what it takes to live to see children and grandchildren grow up. Usually that’s surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or some combination thereof.  Sometimes these options take folks perilously close to death yet in the process,  cancer cells die and the slow process of recovery moves forward. The majority of patients go back to routines of life, but the battle changes them deeply on almost every level.

Understanding what my patients go through and their love of life helps me make sense of Paul’s fervent desire to share in Christ’s sufferings and death. Paul was willing to do whatever it took to know and live in Christ.  He would not be satisfied with anything less.  Lord, make me like Paul, one who knows the truth and will not be satisfied with living anything less.

But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.  Philippians 3:20-21.

Kathy

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