I remember that eighth grade summer. I\u2019d show up at the park on those warm evenings with my gaggle of friends, hoping to get a glimpse of him. If he wasn\u2019t there, but his friends were, the next best thing I hoped to hear was that he \u201csaid hi.\u201d Just a few words, offered in front of everyone, told me that in the middle of whatever else was going on, he remembered me. I was seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we consider today\u2019s passage, I\u2019m reminded of the gravity of a personal greeting. A letter penned in a prison cell and then carried by land and sea from Rome to Colossae, a distance of about 1,300 miles, would have been highly treasured. When Tychicus arrived, it\u2019s likely that word spread quickly for everyone to gather, to see the seal of Paul\u2019s letter cracked and hear its message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then, tucked at the end of Paul\u2019s correspondence, so filled with encouragement and instruction, comes a closing litany of greetings from beloved and revered colaborers in the faith. To hear names of other believers they know, leaders and laborers they have heard about, offering them greetings, would reassure all who heard that they were remembered, prayed for, and valued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a bit like my heart-flutter at the park in eighth grade, but even better, because this closing holds more for their hearts than just \u201cthese guys say hi.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In these parting verses, Paul modeled the very encouragement he described in chapter two, as he prayed for \u201ctheir hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God\u2019s mystery\u2014\u200bChrist\u201d (Colossians 2:2). Placed alongside greetings from and details about no fewer than eight different brothers and sisters, Paul\u2019s words simultaneously informed, built up, prepared, encouraged, offered witness, and reassured the Colossians. Even in the repetition of the simple phrase, \u201cone of you,\u201d he reaffirmed who they were while also establishing these co-laborers. In urging them to welcome and receive each other (Colossians 4:10), he yet again confirmed their bond and place in Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is what it means to share in the needs of the saints (Romans 12:13). This is what it looks like to stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18). Paul\u2019s witness to the work of Christ lives loudly beyond his cell. Even as he sat in chains, Paul built up these brothers and sisters in the faith one more time in these parting thoughts, \u201cputting on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony,\u201d (Colossians 3:14). He pronounces the victory of Christ that unites beyond border and circumstance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Written by Marnie Hammar<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I remember that eighth grade summer. I\u2019d show up at the park on those warm evenings with my gaggle of friends, hoping to get a glimpse of him. If he wasn\u2019t there, but his friends were, the next best thing I hoped to hear was that he \u201csaid hi.\u201d Just a few words, offered in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":71282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[289],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philippiansandcolossians"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"related_plans":[71272],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"FINAL GREETINGS<\/b> I remember that eighth grade summer. I\u2019d show up at the park on those warm evenings with my gaggle of friends, hoping to get a glimpse of him. If he wasn\u2019t there, but his friends were, the next best thing I hoped to hear was that he \u201csaid hi.\u201d Just a few words, offered in front of everyone, told me that in the middle of whatever else was going on, he remembered me. I was seen.<\/p> As we consider today\u2019s passage, I\u2019m reminded of the gravity of a personal greeting. A letter penned in a prison cell and then carried by land and sea from Rome to Colossae, a distance of about 1,300 miles, would have been highly treasured. When Tychicus arrived, it\u2019s likely that word spread quickly for everyone to gather, to see the seal of Paul\u2019s letter cracked and hear its message.<\/p> And then, tucked at the end of Paul\u2019s correspondence, so filled with encouragement and instruction, comes a closing litany of greetings from beloved and revered colaborers in the faith. To hear names of other believers they know, leaders and laborers they have heard about, offering them greetings, would reassure all who heard that they were remembered, prayed for, and valued.<\/p> It\u2019s a bit like my heart-flutter at the park in eighth grade, but even better, because this closing holds more for their hearts than just \u201cthese guys say hi.\u201d<\/p> In these parting verses, Paul modeled the very encouragement he described in chapter two, as he prayed for \u201ctheir hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of complete understanding and have the knowledge of God\u2019s mystery\u2014\u200bChrist\u201d (Colossians 2:2). Placed alongside greetings from and details about no fewer than eight different brothers and sisters, Paul\u2019s words simultaneously informed, built up, prepared, encouraged, offered witness, and reassured the Colossians. Even in the repetition of the simple phrase, \u201cone of you,\u201d he reaffirmed who they were while also establishing these co-laborers. In urging them to welcome and receive each other (Colossians 4:10), he yet again confirmed their bond and place in Christ.<\/p> This is what it means to share in the needs of the saints (Romans 12:13). This is what it looks like to stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18). Paul\u2019s witness to the work of Christ lives loudly beyond his cell. Even as he sat in chains, Paul built up these brothers and sisters in the faith one more time in these parting thoughts, \u201cputting on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony,\u201d (Colossians 3:14). He pronounces the victory of Christ that unites beyond border and circumstance.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"25","scripture":"Colossians 4:7-15, Matthew 10:40-42, Romans 12:13, Ephesians 6:18-20","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\r\nby Marnie Hammar<\/i>
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