Get With the Program
The greatest tragedy in life is to miss Christ and die in your sins. The next greatest tragedy is for a Christian to miss their life’s purpose and die not fulfilling the Lord’s will for their life.
We can be sidetracked by many things. It could be laboring feverishly on the prosperity track. It could be working frantically in a race to the top of the business pyramid. A Christian could be hooked by a hobby and the Lord is getting less and less from them.
Others may be sidelined by discouragement or consumed by bitterness or stalled by their own stubborness. And then there are the perfectionists who are too disheartened to do anything until everything is ideal. As for the paranoid pessimists, they’re afraid of their own shadow and can’t proceed until they get assurances the cloud won’t burst overhead. Well-intentioned procrastinators also are in great danger of not fulfilling the Lord’s purpose for their lives. Occasionally there are gung-ho, self-promoting mavericks who thrust themselves into the limelight of Christian service – but they are no more ‘with the program’ then those who are suffering from inert complacency.
Of all the lofty and rich truths taught in the Epistle to the Colossians don’t miss the lesson to be learned from one Christian. Archippus was his name. What’s your name?
In the concluding section of Paul’s letter he gives various instructions and greetings mentioning names like: Tychicus, Onesimus, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, Doctor Luke, Demas, and Sister Nymphas. He also instructs them to share his letters with others.
But look now at exactly how the letter concludes.
“And when this letter has been read among you,
have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans;
and see that you also read the letter from
And say to Archippus,
“See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”
(Colossians 4:16-18 ESV)
Imagine the congregation listening to this letter being read in Colosse. Imagine one older sister whispering to the other: “I think he’s almost at the end of it. He’s just about finished.” And she starts to wrap her shawl around her shoulders preparing to leave. But all of a sudden the Archippus one-liner is read. Can’t you see her eyes widen, her eyebrows go up as her mouth pulls in the opposite direction with surprise. “Oh my,” she gasps to herself. “That’s pretty direct. What will dear Archippus think of that?”
Paul wanted the believers to go to Archippus and encourage him to stick with the program. “Don’t bale out. Don’t slack off. You may be side-swiped but don’t be sidelined. God has given you something to do and we want to encourage you dear brother fulfill it, finish it, complete it. Take heed. Be careful. See that you fulfill the ministry you have received in the Lord. What He has given you belongs to Him. He has entrusted you with that ministry, that gift, that ability however insignificant it may seem to be in the eyes of others. You be a good manager of it.”
Ultimately dear child of God you will stand before Him. Will He be able to say to you: “Well done! You’ve been a good and a faithful servant? You stuck with it, and you carried out and fulfilled exactly what I had in mind for you.” The Perfect Servant was able to say before He died – “Finished.” Is that your daily prayer as well – to be able to finish or fulfill what God has in mind for you?
Walk carefully and closely with the Lord today.
Warmly in Christ
Peter Ramsay