Finishing the Work in Me
Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV) 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians, known as the Epistle of Joy, encourages believers to have a joyous optimism, if not in their current circumstances at least in our final outcome.
There are two stories I have shared before but would like to mention again. First, when a grade school friend brought a book of the meaning of names to class, I discovered the name “Carol” means “Song of Joy.” Well, my 10 year old self marched home and announced Mama should never reprimand me for singing at the dinner table again since she is the one who gave me a name that means I should and could sing with joy. Mama replied, “I don’t care what your name means, you’re not going to sing at the table.”
The second story occurred in my late teens when I first read about the fruit of the spirit in Galatians. When I saw the fruits Christians should bear I was dismayed, thinking there was no way I could be a Christ follower because these fruits were not evident in my life. But then I saw the word “joy” and I knew that if I could not exhibit any other fruit I had joy!
Did you realize Paul wrote this letter while he was imprisoned? Paul not only preached that Christians should have joy in good times and bad, but he also modeled that very behavior. My scripture card reads, “being confident of this, Carol, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
May we take joy in knowing that we are not yet fully molded into the people God has designed us to be, but we have the blessed assurance that He will not leave us an unfinished mess.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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