Archippus Take Heed

My Heart Is On Fire by Doug Apple - a short Christian devotional to open the Scriptures and make your heart burn within you!

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire. (Luke 24:32)

And say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

That’s an encouragement…and a warning.

It was for Archippus in the Bible, in Colossians 4:17, but it’s for us, too.

Take heed to the ministry with you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.

Are you fulfilling the ministry you have received in the Lord? Are your answering the call, doing what God wants you to do, what He has gifted you to do, and told you to do?

“Take heed,” was the message to Archippus. That means “give this serious attention.” It means, “make sure it’s done to avoid bad results.”

I don’t want bad results, so I’m determined to “take heed” and seek to do what God wants me to do.

Philippians 3:12 says, “…I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

If you are a Christian, then at some point Jesus “took hold” of you, and you have a ministry to fulfill, a vital role in the Body of Christ. Whatever it is, do like Philippians 3:12 says. Press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you.

Do like Colossians 4:17 says, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

What happens, though, is that we can lose our focus. There are so many distractions, so many bells and whistles, so many trinkets and sparkly things. We are easily drawn away from God’s calling toward something else, like Demas.

Demas was on mission with Paul, but something drew him away. In Second Timothy 4:10 Paul wrote, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world.”

I want to cry out, “Demas! What was it? What was so shiny and attractive? What drew you off course? You were dead in like five minutes and standing before your Maker. Was it worth it, forsaking your mission for a minute’s worth of worldly pleasure?”

Jesus called His various disciples with these words, “Follow Me.” And they followed Him.

Well there was one man to whom Jesus said, “Follow Me,” and He didn’t. We call him the rich, young ruler, but his name isn’t recorded. Whatever fame he had at the time is long gone.

Mark 10:21 says that Jesus “loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.’”

But he couldn’t do it. Verse 22 says he was sad, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

I want to cry out, “Dude. Rich, young whatever. What was so great about your stuff? Was it really that great? You passed on the chance to follow Jesus and for what? Some stuff? Really?

And yet we all get hit with similar temptations, and it’s all garbage. Better to have the attitude of Paul in Philippians 3:8 where he counts the trinkets of this world as garbage. He counted everything else as loss compared to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus.

So what to do? Don’t be led astray by the sparkly trinkets of this world.

Instead, press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you.

And like Paul said to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.