My little addition to Our Daily Bread (6/27/11):
because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me. (Philippians 2:30 HCSB)
Having worked night shift for about the last decade, I have found that puts me in a list of people who can “fall through the cracks.” Tonight (which to me means “this shift”) I found that a minor mishap occurred that I saw may happen and suggested a way to avoid it several months ago. That suggestion “fell through the cracks.” It is disappointing, but it is not an uncommon for me since I rarely have the opportunity to follow-up personally face-to-face or with a phone call. Nothing in this world is perfect, so there will be cracks. Much of my job is finding cracks (unfortunately usually after something has “fallen through”) and doing what is necessary to fix the situation.
The church at Philippi understood this. At first, the word “lacking” stuck out at me as a hard word to hear to describe the ministry as insufficient to meet the needs. But a second look showed that Paul is really pointing to the wisdom the Philippian church had in sending Epaphroditus. Their love for the Apostle Paul was so much that they sent their aid with a messenger who was a faithful minister who would do whatever it takes to fill in the cracks – in spite of any adversity and personal cost. And he wanted to get back so that others would stop worrying about him (v26). Selfless service of that nature in my experience only comes from those who allow the Holy Spirit to fill them and overflow into those around them. To echo Fisher’s question from today’s ODB, “What are you known for?”
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