Epaphroditus was the
messenger pastor of the Philippian church. His visit with Paul the
apostle brought a great report of the status of the church in
Philippi, and at the time of the writing of the letter to the
Philippians, Paul desired to send Epaphroditus back to them along
with Timothy his young protege'. In chapter two and verse twenty-six
we understand more about Epaphroditus, and we discover that he had a
sickness. We read:
For he longed after you
all, and was full of heaviness,
because that you had
heard that he had been sick.
The
verse begins, “For he longed after you all, and was full
of heaviness,...” We learned
in the last verse that Epaphroditus was a brother, companion,
fellow-soldier, messenger, and minister, and in this verse we learn
that he was a passionate man - “he longed after you all”
which means he “desired, pursued with love, and sought after” the
Philippian church members. His love for them so affected him that he
was “full of heaviness”
which means “to be troubled, great distress or anguish, or
depressed” over them. Oh how great was the love of this pastor for
his church members.
The
verse goes on to say, “ because that you had heard that
he had been sick.” Paul
provided the reason that Paul felt so passionate toward his church –
because they “heard he had been sick” which
means “to be weak, feeble, to be without strength,
powerless, or poor”. Somehow Epaphroditus contacted sickness in his
travels or time with Paul, and the word got back to the church
members. Their concern over him had Epaphroditus longing to be with
them. This is an marvelous example of caring between a pastor and
his church and a church and their pastor.
When we consider these words
of Paul, we might ask ourselves, are we passionate about anyone in
the manner that Epaphroditus was toward his church? Are we as
concerned about others who perhaps are greatly interested in us? It
might help us to put ourselves in both Epaphroditus' and the church
members' positions so we can identify with each of their conditions
and perspectives, and when we do, perhaps we can ask ourselves, “Do
we care about and have compassion for anyone as much as these?” May
the Lord help us all to be as passionate as Epaphroditus.
Next
time Paul says more about
Epaphroditus,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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