From devotions in Philippians 1:19-26 this morning I read Dr. Constance Walker’s (Duke University) translation of Adolphe Monod, Living in the Hope of Glory: the dying testimony of this noted French Reformed pastor. I drew from the wellstore of his testimony for my sustinence, today, and share some of his sermon preached from the sick-bed with you. His thoughts on “the good life” give a new way of thinking about that phrase:
“Life is also good because we can serve Jesus Christ, glorify Jesus Christ, imitate Jesus Christ. It is not worth living for anything else. All that we have of strength, of breath, of life, of resources must be consecrated, devoted, sanctified, crucified for the serve of our Lord Jesus Christ. This crucified life is the blessed life, even in the midst of earth’s biterest pains. It is a life in which we can taste and pour out around us the most precious blessings. Let us love life, let us sense the price of life, but only in order to fill it with Jesus Christ. For us to have such an attitude requires the Holy Spirit transforming us into new men” (Monod, 61).
Monod, Adolphe, and Constance K. Walker. Living in the Hope of Glory: A New Translation of a Spiritual Classic. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Pub., 2002.