Paul ends this letter to the church at Colosse by calling out fellow brothers, beloved friends, fellow servants of God who labor for each other and the cause of Christ and who are “a great comfort” to Paul.

He says this just before he closes with the words, “Take heed to the ministry you have received in the Lord that you may fulfill it.” (Col 4:17).

Paul has warned the believers about how to avoid false teachers and he has instructed them how to apply biblical truth to our daily lives and roles but he ends by reminding them that in order to fulfill our ministries (and he is talking to all Christians, for we all have been called to make Christ known to a lost world (Matt 28:18-20) …in order to do this, we need each other.

We need to cultivate godly friendships, and social media is not sufficient.

We need friends who know how we are doing by the tone of our voice, or the expression on our face, or by what we arent saying.

And we need face-to-face interaction to really know each other.

We need to recognize when someone needs encouragement and we need to comfort one another.

And we need to help each other hold tight to Jesus when life gets hard and when the world tempts us to walk away.

Because life will get hard, and we will be tempted to walk away, and not just once, but again and again, until we take our final breath.

We have an enemy who will not relent. And he loves a Lone Ranger.

And yes, I know, living in community with other believers may bring hurt and disappointment.

It will

And church hurt, well that really hurts. (And I know lots of us have felt that 😢).

And our Father, who loves us, knows that.

That’s why He told us to “keep meeting together” (Heb 10:25). He knew we’d want to stop. Thats why He told us to “keep encouraging one another”. He knew we’d need encouragement.

Oh friends, how our Father loves and knows us. How we can trust Him, and His Word, and His ways, much more than we can trust our own emotions or circumstances.

Let’s keep going to the Word for our help and our hope!

How I’ve loved studying the Word with you. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers.

Let’s keep encouraging one another to hold tight to Jesus.

whataSavior

readcolossians

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