Let us study what St. Paul meant when he said, “To me to live is Christ.” When there is any one object, for which, and in which, a person lives, it is not an uncommon thing to say it is his life. To a certain extent this explains the expression, “To me to live is Christ,” for the Lord Jesus Christ was the one absorbing object of St. Paul’s whole life. He thought of Him; he leaned on Him; he trusted in Him; he loved Him, and he lived for Him. He could not do without Him. If we look at the subject more in detail we find three things very clearly taught us in Scripture. Our life is hidden _with_ Him, dependent _on_ Him, and devoted _to_ Him. HIDDEN WITH HIM In this stormy world we perpetually need a hiding-place, a shelter from the storm, and a covert from the blast. And so in the great prophecy of our Lord and Saviour revealed in Isaiah, we read of Him, “A man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind.” {34a} But three centuries before Isaiah uttered that prophecy David had learnt to hide under His care, and said of Him, “Thou art my hiding-place.” {34b} The trouble from which he was hiding was deep conviction of sin. In consequence of his sin the hand of God had been heavy upon him day and night. But at length the guilt of his great sin had been blotted out, and as a forgiven man he could find shelter in the very God against whom he had transgressed. He could hide himself in the love of Him against whom he had sinned, and instead of finding the Lord’s hand heavy upon him, he could rejoice in the thought that there was a wall of praise around him. Now just in the same way our life is said to be hidden with Christ. “Your life is hid with Christ in God.” {34c} It is not exposed to the rude shocks of the outer world, but is hidden with Him. As _He_ is unseen, so _it_ is unseen; but as _He_ is safe at the right hand of the Father, so is _it_ safe, being laid up in perfect safety as a sure deposit in the everlasting fidelity of God. It is on the safety of this deposit that our whole life depends. If there were the slightest doubt about it we should be like ships drifting on the wide ocean without either chart, compass, or anchorage. But now we are safe because indissolubly bound up with the Saviour, and so completely is our life identified with Him that in the next verse He is described as “Christ our life.” He holds our life in His right hand. He is the source, the fountain, and the main spring of it all, so that we can well understand the words of St. John, “He that hath the Son hath life.” {34d} DEPENDENT ON HIM