Fond Goodbyes
Submitted by Ted Mock
January 29, 2024
Ro 16:21-24 Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. 23 Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother. 24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Paul, in the last chapter of Romans, ends his letter as he does so often, with salutations of farewell to his friends and helpers.
The ones mentioned were of special importance to Paul that he, and more importantly the Holy Spirit, wanted to recognize. Thirty-three are listed by name in this chapter of Romans, the most of any of his writings. Some are mentioned in other letters, some only here.
It is a good study to compare the salutations at the end of Paul’s letters. What an honor to be listed as a friend of Paul and a servant of Christ. What a dishonor to be one of the few mentioned for their hindrance to the cause of Christ and the Gospel.
It has been said that the people Jesus met as He walked among us were more important than the places He went. The Lord’s time on earth as the God-Man would be short, and every step He took, every word He spoke was with purpose. His destination was always the cross, but along the way the people he met were never the same.
In Paul’s journeys, he was conscious of the divine appointments with people the Lord placed in his path. He, too, was on a mission, to take the message of the cross to the Gentiles. I am so thankful and grateful that the Lord saw fit to send the Gospel to us.
The same applies to us. Who will the Lord bring into your life as you journey down life’s pathway?
Paul might have lived almost two thousand years before I was born, and I never met him personally, but when I read the Book of Acts and his epistles, I feel like I know him. When I look into God’s Word, I meet my Saviour, and know that it is not just a feeling, because He speaks to me and tells me He is near.
My name does not appear on any list in Scripture, but I am glad that it is written down in another Book. Re 21:27 ...written in the Lamb's book of life.
Consider – There will be no fond goodbyes at the Great White Throne.
