Look on the Things of Others

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Philippians 2:4 says, “ Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

     I have found that there are new words that are being inserted in dictionaries almost each year .  One of the new ones that recently was added was the word, “selfie.”  With the advent of cameras in almost  every phone, people can take all the pictures they want .  You don’t have to wait for them to be developed as we did in the old days with 35mm film for either slides or photographs with negatives.  Now, everything is measured by how many pixels you can get.  Cameras in phones make it easy to take a picture of yourself and you can keep on doing it until  you get the exact one you want.   As you look at social media, you soon realize who the people are that like to take a picture of themself and of course, it is called a “selfie.”

     The Apostle Paul remarks, or rather exhorts us, to be thinking just the opposite.  Our focus should not be on ourselves, as in a selfie, but on others.  This passage of Scripture speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ , not thinking about Himself, but thinking about others to the point of humbling Himself and walking towards the cross.  He humbled Himself and became obedient to death.  He knew what  to expect and He took on a human body t hat was going to experience all of the agony of the cross and everything that led up to it during the mock trials, the crown of th orns, the beatings, the plucking out of His beard.  He knew this was coming yet for our sakes He kept walking towards that time when He would pay for our sins on the cross.  This is the supreme example of thinking on the things of others as we see in the above verse.  We have little to compare to such an act, but still it occurs as our example.  Surely, we can at least think on the things of others and to help when we can, to pray when we can, t o encourage when we can, to love when we can and to bear one another’s burdens when we can.  While it is true that thee are believers today that are being killed for their faith, some by being beheaded, other being shot with guns, some burned alive, but for the most part, we in the United States, have not found ourselves to be persecuted in such a way.  That time may be coming to an end shortly as we see prophecies being fulfilled and the conditions of Second Timothy 3:1-5 being so prevalent  in our society today.  Use the time wisely that you and I have left that we may not be so concerned about ourselves, but in preparing souls to meet their Creator.  Most of you can make a good selfie because you all look good.  As for me, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.  Praise God for the humbling of the Lord Jesus as He went to the cross for us.  May we be humbled ourselves and look to help others in our own circle of family and friends.