“Tell Archippus: ‘See
to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord” (Colossians
4:17).
In Paul’s instructions to the people at Colossae, he sends a
message to the minister Archippus to complete the work of the Lord.
Some authorities believe Archippus, whom Paul also greets in
Philemon 2, belonged to Philemon’s family. According to tradition, he was also
one of the seventy-two disciples Jesus appointed in Luke 10.
Later, some sources indicate he met martyrdom near Laodicea.
So, it seems, he did complete the work God gave him to
do.
On a recent road trip, it felt like it took forever to get back home. Sometimes the road of life God calls us to journey can seem a long and difficult
one, too.
However, it’s important to recall Paul’s instructions to Archippus
to complete the work we’ve received in the Lord.
When thoughts of giving up come, it helps to look to those
who’ve gone before, those whose faithfulness continually inspires us to keep
going.
I remember a portion of a reading in Streams in the Desert:
“But if you’ll say He heard you when your prayer was but a
cry,
And if you’ll say He saw you through the night’s
sin-darkened sky—
If you have gone a little way ahead, oh, friend, call back—
‘Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony
track.”
Paul himself said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…” 2 Timothy 4:7-8.
Most of all, it helps me to remember Jesus, our supreme
example whose last words on the cross were, “It is finished.”
We thank God when the road stretches on and on, he can enable
us to be faithful even in the midst of adversity.
And we thank Him for his words: “I will never leave you nor
forsake you.”