THE BEAUTY IN REMEMBRANCE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.”

Romans 1:8-10

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Paul had just finished his opening, the salutation of his letter where he identified who he was as the writer (an apostle and servant of Jesus Christ) and who he was writing to (all the people of Rome who he wanted to know were loved and called by God).

As we look at a majority of the rest of Romans, we will now be looking at the body of Paul’s epistle and we begin with verses 8 through 10 of the first chapter. There Paul says this to the Romans:

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.” Romans 1:8-10

In these three verses, Paul tells his readers in Rome several important things:

First, he gave thanks to God through Jesus for the Romans.

Why?

Because they had shown a great faith that had ripple effects outside of the city. In fact, their faith reputation traveled all over the world and obviously reached Paul in Corinth during his third missionary journey, a message that left him grateful.

How often do we follow Paul’s lead? How often do we give thanks for the faith we see in other people?

We should do so often because when others display strength in faith through life’s circumstances, it serves to inspire others and God knows we all could use a dose of daily inspiration.

Seeing or hearing about the solid faith of others also serves to motivate believers. Unwavering faith begets unwavering faith, one more reason to give thanks for faith when it’s on display.

The other main thing Paul wanted the Romans to know was that he constantly remembered them in prayer and just in case they doubted it, he invoked God as his witness.

There’s a real beauty in being remembered, isn’t there?

We all want to be valued by someone and remembering is just one way to show someone they count, to show that someone cares for them, to show that they aren’t just discounted or forgotten or forsaken.

Paul wanted the Romans to know that he remembered them, cherishing them as brothers and sisters in the faith. He also made sure that he also prayed to one day be in fellowship with them, sensing that it would be God’s will for that to happen in the future.

Indeed, as we saw at the very end of our study of the Book of Acts, Paul’s belief in his future did come to fruition and God was at the center of it as he traveled from Jerusalem to Caesarea and eventually to Rome by sea. When he arrived, it’s of little wonder why he was greeted quickly by Roman brother and sisters. They had received his letter and remembered his words, assuring them that he had prayed for God’s will to bring him there and God had answered that prayer.

Give thanks for others and remember them in prayer.

These are two wonderful, selfless acts we find Paul performing for the Roman people and they are two wonderful, selfless acts we can extend to others as well…and we should. I hope you’ll join me in committing yourself right now to take time every day to see the beauty found in remembrance and how this remembrance can lead us to praying for those remembered.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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