Encourage One Another

I'm going to try to be more consistent with this, guys, but I'm not going to promise because I want my word to start to mean something. Something that has been on my heart quite a bit lately is Colossians 1, but specifically verses 3-4 and 9-12. Paul begins this letter by telling the church at Colassae "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven." How often do we, not only thank our Father for the gift of faithful and godly friends, but also express this gratitude to those friends themselves? I hope you do it more than I do. A little gratitude can go a long way. We should live in a constant state of thanks, choosing to see the silver lining on even the worst of storm clouds. Sure, we can be happy people, but happiness is based on circumstances. Scripture tells us that the joy of the Lord is to be our strength (Neh. 8:10b). This joy is not based on our circumstances. This joy is a way of life, an attitude towards living. Can we be happy? Absolutely. But, when we lose a job, a friend or family member that was so dear to our hearts, or even an opportunity that we had our hearts set on; although the happiness might flee, we must retain our joy. We must say with Habakkuk "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor the fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God is my strength." (Hab. 3:17-19a). Why must we retain our joy, even though the world falls around us? Because our hope is not anchored on things of earth, which grow strangely dim in His glorious light. No, our joy must hinge on the goodness of our Father. The other part of Colossians that has been in my meditations lately is verses 9-12. 

After encouraging the Colossians to continue in their work and thanking them for their faithfulness, he goes on to say "so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." Here we see the two-fold task that is ours; first, we need to express our gratitude to those who God has put in our lives as encouragers; and secondly, we need to return the blessing and be encouragers ourselves, in order to not use people but to be constantly thinking of others. We should, as Paul says here, be praying for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our request should be like this, asking that God give them a stronger and deeper thirst for Him and His will for our life, as opposed to our plan for our life. 

I encourage you to take a moment, maybe more, and think of someone who encourages you; but don't just think of them. Thank them. Then, find someone who you can encourage in Christ.