Philippians 2: 25-30
Note: For the Summer we are reprinting some devotions that ran back when we were getting this site up and running. Hopefully this is new content to you, and we will get back into writing fresh devotions as our schedule allows.
25But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. 26For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. 29Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, 30because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.
Christians, like anyone else, can become really short sighted. It's easy to bash on older people because they don't like the same style of music, or they think it's too loud, or they won't give up their spots in the church, etc. Sometimes we get really narrow minded when we look at church styles, assuming that our way is the best way. What we don't realize is that there are others in the church who have seen church work in a particular style. I got the chance to sit down and talk with one of the older saints in our church recently, and he told me all about how they built the church, and how they got the property and everything else. And you know what? I listened to him and I honored him, because he paved the way for our church to be where it is right now. So the next time we want to complain about so and so doing whatever, remember that they were here first, and take a moment to honor them.
-Jeff-
