Thoughts on Romans - Day 2

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. ⁹ God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you ¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— ¹² that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
¹⁴ I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. ¹⁵ That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.


             <sup>How do you view fellowship? We get a glimpse into Paul's view of it in this passage. He is constantly praying for a group of believers who he has never met, who he didn't lead to the Lord. He spends time thanking God for them (how much of my prayer time is devoted to just thanking the Lord?), and praying that he can see them. Why? So they can mutually be encouraged that this path of faith we are on is not only true but worth all the death to self that we talked about yesterday.

        Do we see fellowship this way? I'm afraid not. A.W.Tozer wrote an essay on This World: A Playground or a Battlefield, where he states that we view life through the wrong lens. Paul says to Timothy, "A good soldier does not get involved in civilian affairs". Do you think our soldiers in the middle east are using their weekly pay to buy land over there so when their tour of duty is up they can live over there? No way! They are sending their money home to ensure a better life when they get back to their real home. A preacher friend of mine once said, "We have been called to be fishers of men but we have taken our boat and gone water skiing." Why do we do this? Here in America there is very little persecution of Christians. We can be wealthy and be a Christian. We can run for president and be an outspoken Christian (winning is another matter). Why would we need to meet together to encourage one another in the faith? Our encouragement tends to be along the lines of ,"Oh, I'm so sorry your child got runner up".

     We need to meet with fellow believers more often and not just to watch sporting events, though there is nothing wrong with that, but when we meet we need to remind each other that we are harvesters with a limited window of time. We need to pray for each other, hold each other accountable, and ask how can I help you accomplish the unique ministry with the unique gifting that God has supplied you with? And if there has been any persecution, ridiculing, ostracizing because of their faith - patch them up and send them back in the battlefield.

       I know this sounds harsh. I know this sounds like obligation and duty rather than freedom and grace and joy. What about where Paul also says to Timothy, "He has given us all things for our enjoyment"? That doesn't sound like a battlefield. That sounds like water skiing. I guess it is just in our mindset. Are we living with eternity in our mind so we hold loosely to the things of this earth or are we living like this earth is our home? We tend to live more like the latter so a harsh reminder is often needed. Actually, that is the point of fellowship, to refocus our eyes on our true citizenship and say, "Yes He is the Truth, Yes He is the Way, and Yes He is the Life"

 Lord, help me encourage fellow Christians today that this world is not their home and Jesus will be coming back soon. Help me to boldly proclaim the gospel today and encourage others to do the same. And please, let me see a harvest. Bring about revival</sup>