10月6日
当面谈论
“我原有许多事要写给你，却不愿意用笔墨写给你，但盼望快快地见你，我们就当面谈论。”
约翰三书 1:13-14
早期的教会不像今天这样容易互相联系。他们不仅没有脸书，甚至也没有什么可使用的通讯方式。例如当专制的罗马帝国要抓捕他们、处决他们的时候，他们也很难互通消息、商量对策。
当时，有一个人是最有体会的，他就是耶稣最亲近的门徒之一约翰。几十年来，约翰自己就是为了躲避当时基督徒所受到的逼迫而流离失所。然而，即便如此，约翰也定意要和那些与他共享生命的弟兄姊妹保持关系。在他的第三封书信中，他特别写给一个叫作该犹的朋友，这个名字在新约里很常见、很有意义。该犹热心于福音事工，是使徒时期关键的福音使者。约翰和该犹分开了，因而很苦恼，很想念他以及对彼此的劝勉，也很希望尽快相见，当面谈论，共沐主恩。
今日祷告：
亲爱的耶稣，谢谢你把那些给予我勉励的朋友放在我的生命中。阿们。
October 6
Face to Face
I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink. For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.
3 JOHN 13–14
It wasn’t easy for the early church to connect. Not only were they missing out on Facebook, but they also had little issues of communication to deal with, like, say, an authoritarian Roman Empire threatening to arrest and execute them.
One guy who knew this reality very well was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, a man named John. For decades, John himself was displaced as a result of the persecution and scattering of Christians. Yet, even in transition, John was determined to carry on friendships with those he had shared so much of his life with.
In his third letter, he wrote specifically to a friend named Gaius, a name both familiar and strategic in the New Testament. Gaius was a key figure in the spread of the good news about Jesus. And John, somehow now separated from him and distressed by conflict, missed the encouragement of his friend and was determined to see him soon. He wanted to be face to face with him once again.
Pray for the Day:
Dear Jesus, thank you for the encouraging friends you have placed in my life. Amen.
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