November 11: Romans 16:3-9
Key Verse: Romans 16:7
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.
Devotion:
These are a few of the personal greetings Paul sends out to the church people, each one of which he attaches a brief description of how he knows them. I chose the highlight to be this verse because he lists two people who were also Jews and who also were in prison with him at some stage. He describes them as being in Christ before he was.
To write out a list of people like this takes a personal touch and gives deeper meaning to the people who he came to know through the church and all because of Christ. How many of your friends can you name and describe how you met them? What sort of impact have they made on your life?
Now we turn the tables and try to think what sort of picture our friends will paint for us in a letter like this? How do they see us and can they remember we are Christians and what we have done in the church? When I first got to know Christ I also started to get to know people in the churches I went to and I remember what sort of impression they made on me. Not all of them good!
As we grow in Christ we get to meet more and more people. We get to see the people for who they really are if we spend time with them. If we make time to greet them and to listen to their stories in their lives we get to know what sort of lives they have lived and can gain a lot by just listening to them!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to tell people how they should be as Christians?
Or do you try to show people what sort of a Christian you are?