Colossians 4:16-18 (NIV)
After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”
I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Colossae was only about twelve miles away from Laodicea , so, it makes sense that they should be the first Church that Paul’s letter was shared with after it had made the rounds of the congregations of Colossae. And it made sense that Paul’s letter to the church in Laodicea should next be sent on to Colossae.

None of our Bibles contain Paul’s letter to Laodicea, leaving scholars trying to figure out what happened to it. Some have postulated that the Ephesian letter was actually originally written to Laodicea, with the name Ephesus added by a later scribe. But the simple fact is, it doesn’t merit spending a lot of time trying to dig up a lost letter. Each of the letters can stand on its own, and the letters we do have contain more information and instruction than any Christian can effectively assimilate. There is little to no chance that the supposedly lost letter contained information that would change everything if we could only locate it.

Little is known about Archippus. He is mentioned in Philemon verse 2 as a worker in the church at Colossae, and possibly even a member of Philemon’s household. Paul’s words here were meant to be words of encouragement, not correction, as can be seen by his calling Archippus “our fellow soldier”, words giving honor and respect, in the letter to Philemon.

Finally, as a “distinguishing mark” (2 Thessalonians 3:17) to show that this letter really was from him, Paul added a word of blessing, and a request for prayer from for the Church members of Colossae.

Father, this closing section of the letter reminds me of a few obligations we have as Christians. The first is to share our knowledge and encouragement we receive with our fellow believers. The faith is to be lived out in close community, so there should be no “secret” revelations we receive that are only for me or for my congregation. Second, we need to encourage each other to stand firm and not turn aside from the work that you have given us. Finally, we need to freely solicit prayers from each other. Even Paul did not try to stand alone, but ask the Colossians to “remember my chains”. If he needed prayer support, I need it just as much! Thank you, Lord, for helping me to see these clearly. Now help me to implement them in my own life and walk, starting today. Amen.