Thur.’s Devo - The Youth

Read Ro. 16:15-20 I love Philologus! His name means “fond of words, talkative, argumentative, learned”. How many of us know just that kind of person. They can be the most interesting person to talk to yet the most annoying at times. Julia means “following” so she was probably married to Philologus since opposites attract. Nereus means “wet”and it is the name of a water nymph god. I guess in the spirit that would translate “immersed” as in baptism. His sister, Olympas was also named for a Greek god which means “heaven-descended”. Here are two kids from the same family that were raised under Greek occult worship that God redeemed. They were just a few of the followers of their meetings - the ones Paul actually knew by name. Next Paul tells them to embrace one another with a holy kiss. This seems like a crazy thing to tell a bunch of teen-agers in the faith, but in their culture that is how they met one another - with a kiss. Paul is admonishing them to be sure their kiss is holy, sacred, and God-approved. He also wants them to know how much he and the rest of the body of Christ loves them and supports them. He warns them against false doctrines and people who would come in and try to cause division and strife whose goal is to bring strife. He reminds them that they have gained a reputation for God and other churches are watching them. If they will concentrate on what is good and stay innocent of evil then God will take care of Satan. Lord, may your grace and peace be with us today and may we tread upon scorpions. PS: Today begins the Feast of Tabernacle in Israel! Happy Sukkot!