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GOOD SEED DAILY DEVOTION

Tuesday  1  January

The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 1.2.

The first day of a New Year is a time when good wishes are expressed generally. This may happen from sheer courtesy or it may be accompanied by genuine friendship. Usually, however, these wishes do not go beyond earthly or physical things. Happiness, business success, health and a harmonious family life are justifiably in the foreground. Today’s verse from the Bible mentions health and prosperity as the apostle John’s wish for his much loved friend Gaius.

In one thing, however, Gaius had an advantage over many of us: his soul prospered, too. That does not mean that psychologically  his mind was working normally; in the biblical sense a soul that prospers has been reconciled with God. The peace of God dwells in it, so that the person concerned lives in close fellowship with God and is aware that He is the source of his strength. That was the case with Gaius, so that the apostle Paul assure him that, if in matters of health and daily life everything was as well as his soul, then he could wish him nothing more.

In this respect we tend to put the cart before the horse. Don’t we often neglect the well-being of our soul when other things are in order? If the apostle lived today he would have to wish many of us prosperity for our soul to wish many of us prosperity for our soul to match our physical well-being! Standing at the threshold of another year, let us not forget that godly issues are of eternal significance, whereas everything else transient.