Good Morning Friends,
“But 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. For he longs for all of
you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed 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. Therefore 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. Welcome
him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died
for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not
give me.” (Philippians 2:25-30)
Some things are worth dying for. The work of
Christ is among them! Ask Epaphroditus and he’d tell you that. It was a
sacrifice to do what he did for the Lord. But it was worth it!
What was it that Epaphroditus did for the Lord?
What was his contribution to the work of Christ? I can’t tell you everything he
did, but what Paul mentions here, what we know he did, was the mundane task of
caring for Paul. He was just a helper for Paul. In today’s culture he probably
would have been setting up chairs for the meetings, running to get Paul’s suit
from the dry cleaners, passing out bulletins at the door, arranging for ushers to
receive the offering, and a hundred other behind-the-scenes tasks that would
help make the work Paul was doing go smoothly. He was a helper. He wasn’t a
star. He wasn’t an up-front personality. He was a helper.
Yet, Paul told the Philippians to “welcome him
with great joy” and to “honor men like him.” A simple helper, and even that
simple help was worth risking a life to accomplish and worth honoring!
There are probably some “helpers” around you
who do mundane, behind-the-scenes tasks for the work of Christ. They probably
don’t get much “honor.” Perhaps a word of encouragement or a pat on the back
from you would be appropriate.
Maybe there are some mundane, behind-the-scenes
tasks that you could do, too. You don't have to be a star to be doing something
worthwhile for Christ.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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