Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth about difficulties he
faced as he shared the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he added to his
list, “In
journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in
perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in
the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils among false brethren”.
In
chapter
eleven and verse twenty-seven of Second Corinthians, Paul added to
his list, “weariness,
painfulness, watchings, hunger, thirst, fasting, cold and nakedness”
where
we read:
In
weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst,
in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
The
verse begins, “In
weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst,
...”
Paul
began with the words, “in
weariness”
which refers to “beatings of the breast with grief and sorrow”
“in
watchings”
or “in hard and difficult labors, toils, travails, hardships and
distresses” “often”
or “many times or frequently”,“in
hunger”
which means “in dearth, scarcity of harvest and famine” “and
thirst”
or “desire for quenching with drink”. Paul “frequently”
suffered “beatings of grief, difficult labors, dearth and desire
for quenching of thirst”.
The
verse continues, “...
in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” Paul
added the words, “in
fastings” which
means “in abstinence from lack of food or voluntarily and
religiously not eating” “often”
or “many times and frequently”, “in
cold”
which means “in coolness” “and
nakedness”
or “nudity”.
Paul's
“perils”
included “depravity of food, cool temperatures and being unclothed”
.
When
we think through these
words of Paul, we discover his tenacity for sharing the gospel of
Jesus. He endured “grief, sorrow, hard labor, hunger,
thirst, fastings, cold and nakedness”
among the other “dangers” he listed previously. Jesus said,
“count the
cost”
for sharing about the kingdom of God, and sometimes the “costs”
are
high. Those who are willing to endure the temporary discomforts and
conveniences of this life for the sake of Jesus' “gospel” shall
surely reap eternal rewards which shall never fade away.
Next
time Paul
adds to his list, “that
which comes upon me daily, the care of all the churches” and
more,
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”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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