Good morning, Zane.
I have a lot on my list for today…with lots of unfinished business. Besides that list, there are a lot of other people wanting to get on my list. What is an old geezer to do?!?! I guess all I can do is keep living…until I die. All things considered, the latter is really not such a bad outcome. After all, Paul’s perspective needs to be embraced as a balanced one—“For me to live is Christ—and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). While a perverse world thinks that’s nuts, it’s an essential feature of a truly Biblical worldview. And you shouldn’t leave home without it!
I hope and pray that you glean adequate encouragement from the Word to successfully process this day.
Love and prayers—Tua/Ray.
There’s nothing more encouraging than to be encouraged. And to be discouraged is very discouraging. Duh! The fact is that everyone needs a lot of encouragement just to make it through life with any measure of balance and success. That is still true even within the dimension of the Christian life. But there is a huge amount of contrary and discouraging influence out there in both arenas.
Paul was an encourager. But he was a very faith-based biased one. He was absolutely convinced that there was no such thing as substantial encouragement outside of Christ. So in his passion and quest to be that kind of encourager, he was often judged as a troublemaker and author of discouragement by those who didn’t want his encouragement. That’s what happened at Ephesus when Demetrius the silversmith was discouraged in his pagan trade of making and selling idols. He became greatly intimidated and angry over the success of Paul’s encouragement. Demetrius became so bent on discouraging Paul that he was successful at encouraging a big and discouraging riot that nearly had Paul killed. But it wasn’t enough to discourage Paul. In today’s passage we read, “When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after ENCOURAGING them, said good–by and set out for Macedonia. He traveled through that area, speaking many words of ENCOURAGEMENT to the people” (Acts 20:12).
Listen to Paul’s words in Colossians 2:1-3: “I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be ENCOURAGED in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” I want to be, if at all possible, that kind of encourager. I think God wants you to be too.
May you be encouraged as an encourager as you take note of one more word of encouragement from Paul: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal ENCOURAGEMENT and good hope, ENCOURAGE your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thess. 2:16-17).