Comforting

DEVOTION
COLOSSIANS
COMFORTING
Col 4:10-11
10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. NIV

To be a fellow worker for the Kingdom of God is a great thing to be. I have this sense which I believe has been instilled within me of the reality of the Kingdom of God. So often I think I get a little distracted by the kingdom of earth, looking at the beauty of this created state by God for the purpose of my living this physical life upon it. But in all truth this is simple a temporary place and the Kingdom of God is the eternal place in which I will reside forever. So if that is the case, then I should indeed be putting forth my efforts in the direction of the eternal Kingdom of God. Now if I am doing that the way I think this verse speaks to, I should be of some comfort to my fellow workers as well. I should prove to be a comfort. The words I say, the things I do, the way I live, should all have some kind of comforting effect on others. That to me would be the opposite of being an irritation to others. This being a comfort really requires a lot of selflessness. Just simply not causing difficulty for others, like not making a mess, someone else has to clean up. Or not saying something which causes hurt feelings. It means giving up some of my alone time, or maybe doing something I really don’t want to do. How come God had to include this verse? But there it is and I have to deal with it. Of course this concept is all throughout his Word. So I must continue to work on being a comfort to others, to my fellow workers for the Kingdom of God. But it is also comforting to know my fellow workers are trying their best to be a comfort to me.