Daily Devotional for Sunday, May 26

Paul’s Final Remarks

“Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all. The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen,” 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18.

In my early days of adulthood, I traveled with a group of men as we sang in many churches around the country. We loved singing together, but we also loved being an instrument of encouragement to pastors and churches. We often visited with pastors and other church members after the church services and enjoyed many great moments of fellowship together. One such time sticks out in my mind as we gave a departing salutation, “Pray for us.” The pastor stopped immediately and gathered us together and prayed for us before we left. This was a profound lesson to me as a young man to never casually respond to someone’s request for prayer.

Paul gave parting words to this congregation whom he loved dearly. He ended his letter with a sincere prayer of peace and blessing over this body of believers. We can imagine the impact on them as they read his words of prayer and blessing over them from their spiritual father, whom they dearly loved. We can personally receive these parting words as a prayer of blessing for us as we read them. “May God grant you peace and grace as you faithfully serve Him.”

That pastor who stopped in his tracks to pray for us left a powerful impression in my life. Like Paul, he did not miss the opportunity to join us in prayer for strength, peace and joy. Every Christian should seek to be an encouragement to others through prayer and exhortation.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY
May we, like Paul, never miss an opportunity to pray with fellow-Christians and encourage them on their journey.

Steven Ridings