Good morning. Well it only took two days to get through
Paul’s first sentence. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all
(don’t you mean y’all?), because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the
whole world. How would you like that to be said about you - that your faith was
being proclaimed throughout the whole world? Even when he was about to zap
somebody, Paul started his letters saying something nice about the people. For
God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my
witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers
making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in
coming to you. Other than perhaps family or for really good friends, how many
people do we unceasingly pray about? This, and Paul had never met these people.
He was praying though, that he might succeed in coming to them. We just saw at
the end of the book of Acts that his prayer was granted, but not in the way
that he would have imagined. In other words, be careful what you pray for – you
just might get it. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual
gift to you, that you may be established. It wasn’t just for a social visit
that Paul wanted to see them. Father help us to pray unceasingly for one
another. Meet the needs of the reader and his/her family.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
Comments
Post a Comment