April 12 - Active

Philemon 1:6

6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

In this passage in Philemon, Paul is commending Philemon for his love and the results and effects it has in Paul's life. Paul states that Philemon's love has revealed joy and has become a source of encouragement in his spiritual growth. We also find that Paul keeps Philemon in his prayers and is very appreciative of the work that he has done.

In his prayers, he prays that Philemon will be actively sharing his faith. This doesn't necessarily mean that Philemon is continually trying to bring people to a relationship with God in salvation (although, that is the ultimate goal), but he is praying that Philemon will glorify God with his life by living out the faith that he knows. By sharing God's love and message with those he was around, he was sharing his faith. I find myself in an idle state at times. There is no forward motion, but there is some backwards movement. We, as Christians, are to push forward with the word of God and actively take it to the streets, office, stores, schools, and everywhere else. Actively sharing our faith means to apply the word to our lives and present ourselves in the most God-like manner as we possibly can reveal.

When we do this, we will be reminded over and over again that every good gift and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). If we are sitting idle and reluctant to live out the gospel message in our lives through our actions and words, we fail to notice the good things that God has for us in our lives. God's call is for us to be actively living for Him.

Am I idle or am I active?