Outside the crystal aperture rises the dawn of another day — a day that wasn’t guaranteed to a thousand others. Yet you’ve found yourself awakened to one more.
What if this is the last “more”? The last existence to leave an illustrious mark on this realm. How would you undertake it? Would your circumstances determine your approach? Would worldly events chart the path to your demise? Would you walk forth in pride? Cruelty to spite your enemies one last time? Or would you spend the hours engulfed in despair for the final twilight to befell?
A New York minister, Robert McCracken, once said, “A man can be as truly a saint in a factory as in a monastery, and there is as much need of him in the one as in the other.” We often forget that the image we carry ourselves with on Sunday mornings isn’t to be just an illusion for a few hours, but the achieved being of our reality.
In so many ways, we allow our emotional state and lasting character to become determined by the chasing of wind. Do you ever stop to think that you may be in more control than you know? While life flows by unpredictably to our mortal witness, how we choose to respond with a path of good or evil embraces free will. What if I told you one of the most joyful books of the Bible was written by a prisoner? Is that hard to fathom? It’s true that when we think of joy, we think on feelings of freedom, safety, comfort and happiness. We feel joyful in our homes, surrounded by family and friends, or perhaps on a vacation away from the daily grind. Worries of the world are far from our minds.
And yet, this was not the case for Apostle Paul. He found himself in a situation that many of us could not imagine thinking of in joy, much less putting it into writing. Philippians was one of the four prison Epistles he wrote over time. We would believe anyone writing under conditions of arrest would be greatly discouraged. Nonetheless, we find him not only extending blessings and grace to the church of Philippi, but bursting with joy to preach about Christ. Paul had meditated on the circumstances he found himself in.
Rather than dwell on misery, he determined that this was exactly where God wanted him to be. With that in heart and mind, he joyfully carried on his work in pursuit of the ultimate prize.
In Chapter 1: 13-14, we find him writing: “Everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.” Through this example, we can clearly see how our actions have a lasting effect on the environment in which we tread.
Wherever we may find ourselves, whether rich or poor, influential or meager, with a lifetime of church attendance or a mere new believer, we have finite opportunities to approach the rising sun. Will it be in anguish or joy? That one decision not only shaping our existence, but resonating a gleaming influence onto the spirit of others. Considering this, how much more should we consciously approach living in the face of fleeting tomorrows?
Final encouragement from Paul can be seen in Chapter 4, with a promise of the result we can expect: “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me — everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Above all, isn’t peace what we strive for? Peace to enjoy the fruits of our labor? Peace to enjoy our family and friends? Peace to enjoy the sparse time we’ve been given?
Regardless of religion, begin today to focus your mind on thoughts that are honorable and pure, true and admirable — then watch as your reality becomes slowly redone.
Joseph Estep lives in South Jacksonville with his wife and three children. He is a formerly passionate basketball player who now lives by writing and cycling.
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Commentary: Joseph Estep — The choice we have in living - Jacksonville Journal-Courier
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