“because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:5 CSB)
Devotional
Think of the person who first told you about Jesus, or the friend who has been praying for you since before you can remember. Paul is writing to people like that. He is not thanking the Philippians for a single kind gesture. He is thanking God for a partnership that has lasted from the first day until now, through hard seasons and good ones, without dropping off.
Partnership is a good word for it. Not a one time donation. Not a favour called in. A shared commitment to the same thing over years. That is rare and it is worth noticing when we have it: a small group that has stuck together, a friend who still checks in, a church family that shows up in the unglamorous seasons and not just the exciting ones.
I think about the people in my own small group this way. We did not plan to matter to each other’s faith the way we now do. It just happened, one ordinary week at a time, because we kept showing up. That is usually how it works. God rarely hands us a finished community. He grows one, slowly, through people who keep choosing to stay.
If you have people like that, this verse is an invitation to actually thank God for them today, by name if you can. And if you feel like you do not, or like the people around you have drifted, take that to God honestly. He is not just interested in growing your faith. He is interested in growing the people around you who carry it with you.
Reflection
I do not thank God for my people nearly as often as I should. I take the ones who have stuck around for granted more than I would like to admit. Today I want to name at least one person and actually thank God for their partnership in my faith, not just think it in passing.
Prayer
Father, thank you for the people you have put around us who have not given up on walking with us. Thank you that you are the one holding those friendships together even when we forget to notice. Where we feel alone in our faith right now, would you send someone, or would you help us see the someone who is already there. Amen.