5-29-19 Today in the Word

Living in Christ
FINISHING WELL
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 | Colossians 4:16–17

John Stephen Akhwari was a world-class marathon runner from Tanzania. In the 1968 Olympic Games, he had the chance to compete for his country. Nineteen kilometers into the race, John was caught in a group of runners jostling for position. He fell, dislocating his knee and injuring his shoulder. Despite these serious injuries, Akhwari continued the race, shuffling and limping toward the finish. At 3:25.27, he was the last athlete to cross the finish line over an hour after the winner. After the race a reporter asked why he had continued, he said, “My country did not send me 9,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 9,000 miles to finish the race.”
As Paul draws this letter to a close, he has a couple of requests for the Colossian church. First, he asks that his letter be sent to the church in Laodicea. Laodicea was about a three-hour walk from Colossae. Paul recognized that this letter, which dealt with issues specific to the Colossian church, could also be useful to other churches. (This may be the beginning of the church creating a collection of Pauline letters.) Paul also asks that the Colossian church read the letter he had written to Laodicea. We do not know for certain which letter this was, but it is possible that he was referring to the letter we know as the Book of Ephesians.
Paul’s second request was to a man named Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received from the Lord” (v. 17). While the specific ministry Paul refers to is unknown, clearly Paul knew the Lord had given Archippus a job to do and he needed to finish it well. The fact that this line of the letter would have been read to the whole church
APPLY THE WORD
Starting a new ministry can be really exciting. But all of us encounter setbacks or discouragements at some point. Paul reminds us that it’s important to finish well. In another letter he wrote to the church at Philippi, he says, “I press on toward to goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-17-23 Not in a Billion Years

Not In A Million Billion Years :: By Dave Hubley Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles (There is a special message at the end of this article for those who might happen to read this and do not have Jesus in their life and are looking for peace and a way to better understand the present-day insanity and confusion.) Several years ago, I had a conversation with a guy in a waiting room while getting an oil change (in the car, not me). I don’t recall exactly how the conversation originated or how it progressed, but I have never forgotten it. As I recall, it had something to do with evolution and an article that was contained in a “waiting room magazine” that was available there. He made the observation that God was “something that man had made up.” I can’t recall the exact reason he used to justify his opinion, but it had something to do with the usual reasons people give: Weak-willed people needing a crutch, and blah, blah, blah. I engaged him in a “witness,
Read more

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th
Read more