Saturday: 13 November

Read Colossians 4:14b

Demas is mentioned only three times in Paul’s letters, and these three references tell a sad story. First he is called “Demas... my fellow labourer” and is linked with three good men—Mark, Aristarchus, and Luke (Phile. 24). Then he is simply called “Demas,” and there is no special word of identification or commendation (Col. 4:14). But the third reference tells what became of Demas: “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10).

At one point in his life, John Mark had forsaken Paul; but he was reclaimed and restored. Demas forsook Paul and apparently was never reclaimed. His sin was that he loved this present world. The word world refers to the whole system of things that runs this world, or “society without God.” In the first of his epistles, John the Apostle pointed out that the world entices the believer with “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:15–17). Which of these traps caught Demas, we do not know; perhaps he fell into all three.

But we do know that Christians today can succumb to the world just as Demas did. How easy it is to maintain a religious veneer, while all the time we are living for the things of this world. Demas thought that he could serve two masters, but eventually he had to make a decision; unfortunately, he made the wrong decision.

It must have hurt Paul greatly when Demas forsook him. It also hurt the work of the Lord, for there never has been a time when the laborers were many. This decision hurt Demas most of all, for he wasted his life in that which could never last. “He that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (1 John 2:17).

After conveying greetings from his friends and fellow servants, Paul himself sent greetings to the sister churches in Laodicea and Hierapolis. These people had never seen Paul (Col. 2:1), yet he was interested in them and concerned about their spiritual welfare.

Prayer:-

ÿ Pray for those who are preaching and teaching tomorrow. Pray that God would use them powerfully and that His Word would be powerful and active in our lives. Pray that the entire congregation would be present and would submit to the authority of the Word.

ÿ Pray that God would be powerfully among us tomorrow - healing the sick, freeing captives from prison, releasing those burdened with sin and habitual sin, making people whole and renewing people and saving them in the gospel of our Lord.