DEVOTION
THE 1ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIAN
A REFRESHER OF SOULS
1 Cor 16:15-18
15 You know that the household
of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and they have devoted
themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you, brothers, 16 to submit to
such as these and to everyone who joins in the work, and labors at it. 17 I was
glad when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived, because they have
supplied what was lacking from you. 18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours
also. Such men deserve recognition.
NIV
Again, we are at the concluding
remarks, except these include the names of three men who must have been the
ones who delivered the letter the Corinthians had sent Paul with questions and is the very
reason Paul wrote this letter in order to respond with instructions regarding their
questions. We have heard about Stephanas in the early part of this letter where
Paul admits that he did baptize Stephanas and his household and in the letter he
mentions him again as one of the first converts in Achaia. As interesting as
all this is and what it was they provided that was lacking from the Church in Corinth,
we want to consider something else that was said and how that might look in the
church today, specifically in our lives. However, perhaps it would be
interesting to consider what it was the three provided Paul that was lacking
from the Corinthian church. Was it details left out of the letter about what
was actually going on in the church? Was it financial in nature? It seems our
scholars of old cannot come to a common solution so we will just consider it
interesting. Now for this statement that strikes this chord within us. They refreshed
his spirit and that of the church in Corinth. Are we refreshing the spirits of
the others we commune with within the church, as well as perhaps any believer that
we might come in contact with? Certainly boasting about our work in the Lord,
or our deeds, our anything for that matter, unless we are boasting about Jesus,
does not refresh anyone except ourselves. We think it would be good to look
into the Greek word, anapauoo, to find what this refresh meant to Paul.
This word can be used to cause or permit one to cease any movement or
labor to recover and collect his strength to give rest. That would be like permitting
the pastor to take a vacation, or a sabbatical in order to refresh himself. But
in the context, it appears to be more in the active sense as to refresh, the
soul of anyone such as when Jesus told us to come onto him anyone who is burdened
and he would give us rest. Jesus refreshes our souls. We think this should be
applied to all of us in the sense that we should give rest to everyone, restoring
their soul, lifting them up, encouraging them to be the best they can be as
believers, and when someone is down, feeling alone, or dealing with some difficultly,
we are there to lift them up, to refresh their soul, their spirit. Now what
does that look like? We cannot be sure, as each situation might be different,
but in general, we could say we should always be about refreshing each other,
lifting each other up, and building each other up as in until we all reach unity in
the faith. Let us be a refresher of souls.
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