Read with Me
3 John 5-8 (HCSB)
Dear friend, you are showing faithfulness by whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. They have testified to your love in front of the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God, since they set out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from pagans. Therefore, we ought to support such men so that we can be coworkers with the truth.
Listen with Me
Gaius was a faithful servant of Jesus, which meant that he was a faithful friend of those who served Jesus. The agape love that had been planted in his heart by the Holy Spirit had expressed itself through the hospitality he had shown to the traveling evangelists who had passed through his city. And word of his hospitality had made it all the way back to John.
Gaius had provided food and lodging for these evangelists, even though they were strangers to him. And they had remained for some time with him as they had ministered in the community.
But John knew that the time would soon come when they would be called to move on to the next community to which God would call them. And John was urging Gaius that, when that time came, he needed to add to his praiseworthy hospitality praiseworthy generosity, providing these missionaries with funds and supplies which see them to their next destination.
John understood that those who are sent out by Jesus often had no funds of their own to provide for the weeks, or months, or sometimes years that they would be away from family, friends, and their normal source is of income. God had promised to provide for their needs, but He most often provided for those needs by calling His people to step up and to meet those needs out of the resources He had provided for them. And when God’s people heard His call and responded in generosity, the needs were met, the work could move forward, and God responded by pouring even more abundant blessings into and through the lives of those good and faithful stewards.
Pray with Me
Father, I know that You can and do still work through the generosity of Your people who give to support the work of your full-time ministers, both at home and abroad. And I know from personal experience that when we are faithful in this work of giving and providing for the needs of these workers, You still multiply Your blessings into our lives. Help me to be diligent in listening to Your voice, so that I never miss an opportunity to give to Your work, to encourage, to support, and to provide for those who are on mission for You, and so that I can thus multiply my own usefulness to Your kingdom. Amen.