March 27, 2024 Morning Devotional
Morning Devotion: Read Colossians 4
Colossians 4:14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. 15 Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. 16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it. 18 The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen. Written from Rome to Colossians by Tychicus and Onesimus.
Paul in closing his letter to the church at Colosse gives a list of men who also send their closing greetings to this wonderful church. In our text we find Luke the beloved physician and we find Demas.
Luke was the physician who stayed with Paul to the very end when Paul was martyred for Christ and the hands of Rome. Luke was later hung from an olive tree. These men suffered for preaching the truth of God’s word. They had the stuff that it takes to be right with God no matter what the world thought.
Now we come to Demas. Demas was that one person who was with Paul but only to a certain point. He did not have what it takes to be faithful. When things got rough he left Paul. Paul tells us that Demas loved the world more than he loved God.
Do you love the world and the things of the world more than you love God? I believe we have a lot of Demas’ in Christianity today.
Paul records Demas leaving him in 2Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 9 Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: 10 FOR DEMAS HATH FORSAKEN ME, HAVING LOVED THIS PRESENT WORLD, AND IS DEPARTED unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.”
In my ministry, I have seen people come and go; I have seen people ardent for the things of God and strong in the faith only to watch them either drift off or outright leave the things of God for this present world. They would be on fire for God and then sputter out for God and cling to the things of this present world.
In other words, Demas loved something else more than he loved God. When your love for anything exceeds your love for God, you will leave. Whether its comfort, convenience, pleasures or this world, cares of this world, or anything other than God, you will eventually leave God. Maybe it is because your relationship with God and the word of God is unstable. We find that in Matthew 13. (I encourage you to read that chapter.) Here is an excerpt. In the excerpt the seed is the word of God.
Matthew 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
To love the world is to forsake God at one point or another, whether it be prayer, reading your bible, church attendance and fellowship of believers or some other aspect of the Christian life. (Most of the time those who leave the things of God justify themselves for doing so; they will use excuses and say things like, don’t judge me or argue and lay blame on others when the issue is brought up.) Simply put, they love the world, or themselves being part of the world, more than God.
God specifically warns us against loving the world and emphasizes the fact that doing so means one does not have the love of God within.
1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, THE LOVE OF THE FATHER IS NOT IN HIM. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Even though Demas was of those that gave greeting to Colosse, he was the one who later loved this present world and left the things of God, and left Paul in his time of need.
If you say you love God, I say, prove it. You may say, “I don’t have to prove anything to you;” I say you are right but, thanks for making my point.
The choice is still yours,
Pastor Cook
