Thought for Wednesday 2 August 2023

Philippians 4:4-7

Always be full of joy in the Lord.  I say it again – rejoice! 

Let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do.  Remember, the Lord is coming soon.  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.  If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 

Today’s offering is only four verses from the multitude of verses that make up our bible yet so much can be said in so few words. 

Paul writes to ‘always be full of joy in the Lord’.  When he was writing these words, he was imprisoned and surely, more than anyone, he would have had cause to be anxious or worried, yet he evidently could still experience the joy of knowing Jesus and believing and trusting in him.  He asks us to be ‘considerate’ in all that we do.  The core of Jesus’ teaching is that we love one another.  This is impossible if we are inconsiderate towards others as we go about our day to day lives. 

We are also asked to remember that Jesus will come again. By remembering this as Paul teaches, we should live our lives continually endeavouring to be ready for that day when Jesus will return.  It will not be a repeat of that first Christmas, it will be an event where every knee will bow and recognise the Lord for who he really is and he, in turn, will recognise those who belong to him. 

I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t have some sort of issue that worries or concerns them.  It could be a health situation, a family situation, a relationship situation, a financial situation, a work-related situation etc. etc.  Yet Paul asks us to put these burdens on to our saviour, to ask God what we would like him to do, but as well as this, recognise and thank him for all the things he has already done for us. 

Some say they can never find a suitable time or opportunity to pray.  Many of us feel that we have busy lives, but is it really so difficult to put the time aside for this essential part of our Christian lives?  Recent research says that on average, we check our social media channels seventeen times each day, which is effectively once fer every hour we are awake.  We can waste so much of the time we are given by making time for the less important things in our lives at the expense of some things that are so much more important. 

No matter what is happening in our lives – no matter how bad things might seem at times,  we have a God who loves us, a Saviour who died for us, and a promise from our God to be with us always. That is why we can always rejoice, because we are rejoicing in the Lord.  

Prayer – Heavenly Father, help us take in and understand your teachings and reflect this understanding by doing the things you ask us to do and behaving in ways you wish us to behave.  Help each and every one of us experience the peace that you promise, that peace that is way beyond our understanding.    Amen.