8/2/22, 11:38 AM Day 12: One business — Salt&Light

40.DAY

Day 12: One business

A LoveSingapore 40.Day prayer and fast devotional, following 2022's theme of To Live Is
Christ: A Journey Through the Book of Philippians.

LoveSingapore
// July 12, 2022, 12:01 am

Bible reading for 40.DAY 2022 |  Philippians 2:5–8

“M
ind this among you which is also in Christ Jesus.” This is a literal translation
of verse 5. “Mind this” commands both an attitude and an action, a mindset
and a movement. As in: “Mind your step. Mind the gap. Mind your business.”
And “Mind your manners”.

Therefore, don’t just consider what Christ did. Live it out. Practise it.
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8/2/22, 11:38 AM Day 12: One business — Salt&Light

Don’t just consider what Christ did. Live it out. Practise it.

The high Christology that follows this imperative is so uplifting that we often miss its down-to-earth
implications. God the Son did not exploit his Divine Nature to His own advantage. He stepped down from
the highest place to the lowest – “one giant leap for mankind”.

He disenfranchised Himself. He demoted Himself to the status of a slave. He humbled Himself in

obedience unto death.

Therefore, “mind this among yourselves! Make this your business, which is also the business of Christ”:

○ Make it your business to relinquish your rights.

○ Make it your business to be last of all and servant of all.
○ Make it your business to do nothing from strife and conceit.
○ Make it your business to esteem others better than yourselves.
○ Make it your business to put the interests of others above your own.
○ Make it your business not to exploit your position for personal advantage.
○ Make it your business to humble yourself and obey God unto death.

Make all this your one business in life. Abandon your power base. Forego the perks and privileges that
go with your status and position in the world and in the church. Throw your awards into the sea as John
Sung did. Cast all your trophies and titles down at the feet of the One who “made Himself no reputation”.

Salvation is not a ticket to heaven. It’s a summons to live on earth as icons

of Christ.

This is the practical, down-to-earth application of Paul’s Christology. This is what it means to walk
worthy of the Gospel of Christ, to work out our own salvation, to live as a Colony of the Kingdom in the
Republic of Singapore.

Salvation is not a ticket to heaven. It’s a summons to live on earth as icons of Christ. The Church Fathers
are virtually unanimous on this point: “God became like us so that we might become like Him.”

Therefore, make the business of Christ your one preoccupation, passion, and pursuit. “Mind this among
yourselves!”

Pray Now
1 To live is Christ. No matter your profession or journey in life, will you make the business of Christ your
one business, your all-consuming passion and pursuit?

Stop and think. This is not an unreasonable question. This is not a radical idea. Nor is it merely a human
expectation. This is God calling us back to discipleship defined as the imitation of Christ. Back to
the ancient path of spiritual formation through learning, loving, and living the Word of God.

Back to dying to self so that Christ may live in us Back to Jesus: “He must increase but I must
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8/2/22, 11:38 AM Day 12: One business — Salt&Light
Back to dying to self so that Christ may live in us. Back to Jesus: He must increase, but I must
decrease” (John 3:30). “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). Back to discipleship spelled “surrender”. In a world where self is the
greatest god, surrender to Christ is the greatest good. Pray.

2 To live is Christ. “If I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity, even though
people may treat me like a ‘doormat’. The secret … is devotion to Christ, and the characteristic of
that life is its seeming insignificance and its meekness” (Oswald Chambers).

Think back on your relational quotient at home, in church, at school, at work, in the community space, or
public square. How Christlike are you? How do you fare on each of the following?

Turn to Christ. Reject status quo. Resolve to imitate Christ.

○ Relinquish your rights.

○ Empty yourself.
○ Be last of all and servant of all.
○ Do nothing from strife or conceit.
○ Esteem others better than yourself.
○ Put the interests of others first.
○ Never exploit your position for personal advantage.
○ Humble yourself and obey God to the point of death.

Turn to Christ. Reject status quo. Resolve to imitate Christ.

3 To live is Christ. When husband and wife live like Christ, no relationship is irreparable and no
difference is irreconcilable. Some are too quick to claim the “irretrievable breakdown of marriage”. Often
the root issue is our lack of devotion to Christ, our refusal to die to self, forgive, reconcile, and love again.
Some of us are so wrapped up in ourselves that we make mountains out of molehills, triggering needless
quarrels and endless drama at home. If that’s you, plead with God for inner life transformation. To
love like Christ.

4 To live is Christ. Our education system is tops. But obsession with success and hyper-competition in
school is toxic. One student confessed: “Contending for the top grades often left me with bruised
relationships and selfish tendencies. I kept looking at what I could do to surpass my peers. Help was
rarely given, notes were nearly never shared and insights were not contributed unless it boosted one’s
own grades” (thir.st). Pray for our young to break free from the obsession to out-score others and
gain the advantage over them. Pray that imitating Christ and putting others first will replace selfish
ambition and vain conceit.

Follow Salt&Light on Telegram, Facebook or Instagram for more of LoveSingapore’s daily devotions until

August 8, 2022.

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8/2/22, 11:38 AM Day 12: One business — Salt&Light

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LoveSingapore

Founded in 1995, LoveSingapore is a unity movement

motivated by love, fuelled by prayer, and inspired by a
common vision: God's greatest glory seen through a life
changed, a church revived, a nation transformed, and a
world evangelised.

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