Our Scripture meditation is based on Philemon 4-6, part of next week’s Epistle reading.
[4] I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, [5] because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, [6] and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
For such a short epistle, the letter to Philemon has had a profound impact on my life. God can use it to bless your life as well.
This passage first impacted me a couple years before I attended the seminary. Verse 6 struck me: How can sharing my faith make me effective in knowing “every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ”? I thought as Christians we were to share the faith from we learn from the Bible. At first reading, this passage sounded like God would give special knowledge of Christ as we share the faith.
I’ve never received any “special” knowledge in sharing the faith. I can say that sharing the faith brought up questions. One friend asked me about heaven. Another inquired about the “end times.” Yet another acquaintance about the “unforgiveable sin.” In each case I had to go back to the Bible to seek answers. A couple of times I asked my pastor for guidance with the questions.
I’m confident readers of this devotion have had similar experiences. We do end up gaining more full knowledge of Christ in sharing the faith, albeit from the Bible.
One final note on faith sharing. Back then I thought we were to share the faith with non-Christians. It turns out everyone needs to hear the Gospel. This includes fellow Christians. We encourage and strengthen each other by sharing the faith. This mutual sharing also sharpens our skills to expressing the faith with those outside the faith.
Until next week, the Lord bless and guide.
Kevin Wilson 360 