DATE: August 26, 2020
BY: Pastor Bob Miller
CHAPTER READ: 3 John
SCRIPTURE SELECTED: 3 John 2-4
2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
OBSERVATION: John takes time to write a letter of encouragement to a dear friend, Gaius. He lets him know that He is praying for both His physical and spiritual health and then reports how others have shared about his continued walk in faithfulness to the truth. In fact the thing that gives John the greatest joy is hearing that his children in the Lord are walking in the truth.
APPLICATION: It is easy to imagine how encouraged Gaius must have been to receive this letter. To get a pat on the back from his “old pastor” and “mentor” and hear that others have been sharing good reports about His faithfulness. I say this because I’ve received reports like this and I cherish those letters which oft times come, just when I felt like giving up! I need to write some letters to some dear friends today.
PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for those who have taken the time to encourage me. May I be more of an encouragement to others. May my greatest joy be found “not in what I do” but in hearing that others are faithfully walking with You even when I’m not around! Amen
