Refreshed?
Dear Friends,
What does it take for you to feel refreshed? A walk in the country? A good sleep? An engrossing read? A tough run? A heart-to-heart with a close friend? We are all made differently, so it is not surprising that we find our refreshment in different things. Sadly, though, perhaps some of us cannot remember the last time we felt refreshed. Many of us look for refreshment in ‘getting away from it all.’ (I will leave you to fill in what the “all” is for you!) Certainly I look forward to a couple of weeks away every summer.
It is striking that the apostle Paul speaks of finding refreshment from and with other believers. So, he longed to visit the Christians in Rome “and together with you be refreshed”; while in Ephesus, he received visitors from Corinth who “refreshed my spirit”; he tells the Corinthians that Titus was happy “because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you”; Onesiphorus is singled out “because he often refreshed me”; Philemon is praised “because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints” (Romans 15:32, 1 Corinthians 16:18, 2 Corinthians 7:13, 2 Timothy 1:16, Philemon 1:7).
And isn’t that true to our own experience? When we meet with other Christians who are seeking to live for the Lord, and we engage with them in serving the Lord together, we are refreshed spiritually and encouraged to love the Lord more ourselves. That was definitely my feeling coming away from the church prayer meeting this week…
Chris Hobbs,
Senior Minister (Vicar)