Paul was not only a child of God driven to fulfill His mission on earth, he was also a gifted writer and consummate encourager. He used his letters to guide those whom he had led to the Lord. Sometimes he had to bring words of rebuke, but he always couched them in the love of Christ. In this passage, he is both praising and instructing a brother in Christ.
Philemon 1
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
Paul had led Philemon to the Lord along with members of his household including Onesimus, a slave. Onesimus had run away and had been with Paul for some time. The time had come that Paul wanted to send Onesimus back to Philemon, but he was concerned about his reception. Even though Philemon had been and still was an ardent supporter of the Lord’s work, there was something that Paul felt was in need of reexamination.
The New Living Testament translates the first part of verse 6 to read “that you will really put your generosity to work.” What an eloquent statement of the job of a follower of Jesus. It is easy to be generous out of abundance. It takes work to carry that generosity into times, or areas of our lives, that are already strapped due to circumstance or failure to surrender.
Our generosity must be balanced. It is not enough to give out of an abundance of talent and be miserly in the sharing of our treasure. Likewise, it is not enough to give abundantly of our treasure and neglect sharing the love Christ has put in us by forgiving someone who has wronged us.
Philippians 2:13 tells us that if we allow God to work in us, He will give us both the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. God loves it when our stewardship is accompanied by a cheerful attitude (2 Corinthians 9:7). Every time God gives us a work to do, He also provides the way to do it.
We serve an awesome God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment