Meditation for Monday
Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. Colossians 4:14
I sent a birthday greeting to former prime minister John Diefenbaker when he was about to turn 80, because my friend and MP Bob Howie told me The Chief always personally acknowledged every piece of mail he received. Bob said the response would make a nice souvenir. I did get a response: a form letter that Diefenbaker sent to everybody who sent him a birthday card, and a small book with a thank you, personally directed to me, written on the fly leaf. It was more than I expected and I was delighted. Have you ever received a greeting or message from somebody famous? Imagine how the folks in Colosse felt to receive – in Paul’s letter to them – a greeting from the great Dr. Luke! This was an important man in the Christian community, a writer of two of the major books of the New Testament, a man who had met and known the Lord Jesus, and a close confidante of many of the apostles. But he was not above noticing and greeting the folks in a faraway colony. Are we always as humble as Luke?
Who is there in your neighbourhood or workplace that is beneath your dignity to speak to or lend a hand to? There are some people we need to avoid for various reasons, but it should never be because we are above the need to notice them. We have nothing to be proud about. Luke, before he was saved, was just as lost a sinner as anyone in the community, and so were we. Only the grace of God has given us a right standing before God. A humble spirit of friendliness and care for everyone is a wonderful testimony to the grace of God and enables us to witness for our Lord.
Surely there is nobody in your Assembly that you would not personally and sincerely greet each time you meet. Ouch! We all know of individuals within Assemblies who don’t speak to each other, or who speak as seldom and little as possible. This is not right. It is especially wrong when the broken communion is because of pride on the part of one or both persons. Nobody in our Assembly deserves to be there, and nobody in our Assembly is any better or any more important than anybody else. We should be honoured to be able to greet and commune with each and every saint.
If we could see how unworthy we are of God’s grace and see how wonderfully God has lifted up each of the other Christians into His own royal family, we would seek to greet them all, and be delighted that they would ever be glad to commune with us. -Jim MacIntosh