Today's Daily Lesson comes from Philippians chapter 2 verses 19 through 26:
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. 20I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22But Timothy’s* worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me; 24and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.
25 Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus—my brother and co-worker and fellow-soldier, your messenger* and minister to my need; 26for he has been longing for all of you, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.
When we think of the Apostle Paul his tenderness and affection are usually not the first things that come to mind. Paul could be gruff, and hard-headed, a prophet in the army of God.
Yet in today's Lesson we see him speaking tenderly and with affection for two others in his Church. Timothy he says is "like a son. And Epaphroditus is a "brother". Paul's love, affection, and appreciation, and concern for them is genuine. And, contrary to the stereotype, he is willing to show it. He writes it, and presumably he speaks it also.
These men matter to Paul. They strengthen him. They encourage him. They worry him! And he loves them. And he says so.
One of the great gifts the Church has given me is the gift of being able to tell other men I love them. It's no small thing. And no one should say the words don't matter. The words are true; and they come from the heart.
Ryon Price is Senior Pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
No comments:
Post a Comment