Modeling

           In Philippians 3:17, Paul encourages believers to model their lives after those who live for Christ. This encouragement is appropriate today, as it was then, because many people who call themselves Christians and associate themselves with His name live as “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18, NASB). Paul identifies these people as those “whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, [and] who set their minds on earthly things” (Phil. 3:19). Sound familiar? Unfortunately, we all know people (or are people or have been people) who want the rewards of Christianity without a relationship to Christ, and their lives reflect the world around them more than they do Him. One has only to turn on the TV to see that in our culture our appetites have become a god. The commercials are designed to appeal to the flesh in every way—earthly, sensual things; likewise, the news centers on the world and its shame as well. Our culture is rife with people who either do not fully comprehend what belonging to Christ means or do not truly believe that there is more to Christianity than a walk down the aisle of a church or a single rote prayer. Christianity is about a walk, but it is a consistent walking out of one’s faith in Christ, and the ability to do that is not even something we can “womp” up—it’s a gift from Him (Eph. 2:8). All of these worldly things will pass away as Jesus points out in Matthew 24:35: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” If we renew our minds through His word each day (Rom. 12:), we will be modeling our lives after a pattern that is eternal and our end will not be destruction.