“I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also” (Rom. 16:1-2).
In this letter of introduction of Phoebe to the Romans, we learn that she was a faithful and kind servant, “a woman to whom the care of either poor or sick women was entrusted” (Strongs 1249). Although she is never mentioned again, her name and vita have been recorded for posterity.
Why preserve this apparently long-irrelevant detail in so many duplications of the letter of Romans? In fact, 28 people are mentioned in this chapter in Romans (10 are women) and we mostly never hear of them again. For that matter, why preserve the endless lists of names in Chronicles (that are so challenging to read aloud)?
The reason is that these people were not irrelevant to God, and neither are you! God remembers every detail about every person who ever lives and has recorded the names of those who love Him in an even bigger book, the Book of Life. "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (Rev. 3:5).
God planned, before He even created the world, to call you His son or daughter. “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Eph. 1:4-5 NLT).
You are special to God. You are His chosen child. He loves you so much that He sent His Son to take away all your mistakes and wash you clean.
Why don’t you pray with me today and put YOUR name in the Book of Life:
Dear God.
I’ve made many mistakes for which I am sorry. I believe that the blood of Jesus washes me clean. You are so good, Lord.
Now that I am clean, come and live inside of me. I make you my Saviour and Lord.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.