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Archippus was singled out probably because he was neglectful of his mission that he has received from the Lord. The path of the Christian is not an easy one, and there are many challenges, set backs, difficulties, and temptations that need to be overcome. If we are not vigilant enough, if we do not seek God with all our strength, heart, and mind, with all our being, it is easy to be sidetracked. Wide is the road that leads to destruction, narrow is the one that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us all be watchful and constantly pray for God's guidance for us and for each other. When we truly see the worth and preciousness of the mission that we have received from the Lord, we will not treat it lightly, but as the highest honour, as our life's mission.

Paul advised us to pray constantly and persistently, be watchful and alert, and with thanksgiving. Praying is communicating with God; it is the highest honour and we cannot treat it as a chore, but with an alert spirit and a thankful heart. Constant prayer also strengthens our bond to God. These advices puts the spirit into a right attitude and relationship with God, and prevent us from being distracted by and lost in unwholesome thoughts. When we focus on God all the time, we learn from Him; we take on His attributes and we become more like Him. Let us keep our thoughts on God!

Verse 28 promises the believer that all that happens to them is worked by God for their good. The two qualifications of this promise are "those who love him" and "those who have been called". This promise, then, is for the truly committed follower of Christ. What a reassuring promise! This verse is really comforting to me as I have been struggling with a sense of alienation from God in the past few days. God's love speaks and comforts in His Words!

When Christ comes, God's glory "will be revealed in us" and will fill us. We will be made anew like all creation and will live eternally in the house of God. Creation itself "will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." Freedom awaits!

Someone who's lost hope lives as if they are not living; they don't see a point to it. Their life has no purpose, no goal, no orientation. One who eagerly expects a better future, however, lives with that sense of purpose, with joy, with direction; they whole life is organized around that hope, the realization of that hope. The "Christian hope" is eternal life to come, for God has prepared a city for us. The hope of this better life, this eternal life of bliss with God motivates our lives now, that we live every single moment of it in eager expectation, and for God, as gratitude for Him, for we live in and through Him, now and forever.

The Holy Spirit helps us pray to God with "groans that words cannot express." We're powerless without the Spirit, for "we do not know what we ought to pray for." Likewise, Jesus, who reconciles us to God, also intercedes for us that God may forgive our sins. We take so many things in our lives for granted, not realizing that the Spirit works through us all the time and saves us from many troubles. To appreciate His work and presence, a sense of gratitude for everything is needed.

Obedience prepares the child for obedience to God, our real Father. And just as God, though just and firm, is infinitely loving, so need the fathers and mothers model themselves after the heavenly Father in their upbringing of their children. When edifying the child, the parents need always be patient and have a loving heart. How wise is God who teaches us divine virtues through family life!

As the result of one man's transgression, sin entered the world and all creation have been accursed with suffering. This suffering, however, is not a mere punishment, but also a preparation for the perfection and glory that is to come. It's God's way of tilling the ground for the planting of the seed. In suffering, we look forward to eternal life "that will be revealed in us", brought by another Man's sacrifice. Jesus suffered that we may share with Him eternal life after His triumph over sin. Our present sufferings, then, shall unite us with Him that died for us so that we may be reborn with Him in eternal life. Do not lose heart, then, for a glorious future awaits us! We shall reap what we sow.

This idea of sonship and daughtership of God permeates through out this section, in the words and images of "adoption", "heirs", "pains of childbirth". The promise is co-inheritence with Christ the kingdom of God, the liberation from "bondage to decay and brought to the glorious freedom of the children of God". We are given great hope for this promised inheritance, "if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory". Let us not lose heart, then, but be steadfast in our faith, and await patiently for our birth as sons and daughters of God to come. Paul says in Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. If we've heard the testimony of the Spirit, we'll never once doubt again our rightful sonship and daughtership of God, we'll no longer be afraid or worrying, for God will take care us, in the past, now, and in the future. Referring to God as our Daddy means an intimate, personal relationship with God; it is emotional and spiritual, it is an intense feeling and longing, and we feel with all our being that our existence is because of God, that without Him, we are not. If we do not have this kind of personal assurance, our life will be akin to 'hell' - full of fear and darkness, because of an alienation from God, from our Father. To receive this assurance we must seek God earnestly and cry out to him like lost children, then He will come and dwell in us, and we will never be lost again. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." God loves us so much; He want to be there for us, to be in our lives. Let us open ourselves to Him.