This post is Day 27 in a series of studies about “Work/Works”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.

Feel free to comment below with your own thoughts about each verse and how you will be acting on each thought. Also, if you haven’t yet signed up to receive the notifications of new studies, you can do that today. (The form is at the bottom of the page).

Work/Works – Day 27

I am fairly sure that if I had asked you before you read this page, where in the Bible you would find Tryphena and Tryphosa, you would say that you had no idea. And you probably do not know either, what they did and why their names were included here.

Romans 16:12

Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord.

The Thought

I am fairly sure that if I had asked you before you read this page, where in the Bible you would find Tryphena and Tryphosa, you would say that you had no idea. And you probably don’t know either, what they did and why their names were included here. The fact is that Paul is signing off his letter to the church in Rome and is trying not to miss anybody out in his greetings. The whole chapter is greeting different people who work in the church in Rome.

Commentaries tell us that these two ladies were probably sisters, or at least related, because their names are similar and they are included in the same greeting. Their names have similar meanings:- luxurious or delicate.

There are other women in the Bible deserving of mention because they work hard in the Lord. I can imagine the same sort of greeting being sent to Mary and Martha in the gospels or Ruth and Naomi in the Old Testament.

We do not know the actual work that the women in today’s verse did. But we can imagine that, like Mary and Martha they busied themselves with household tasks and food. Maybe also they cared for the poor or the sick.

Action

Think today about your christian group, whether a big church, small house group or class. Would you single out any of the women because of their “service to The Lord”. That can be anything from making coffee to teaching, preaching, baby minding, praying, transport for those without other means of joining the meetings.

Pray for those who do the “less important” things for your group. Remember that The Lord sees everything and knows the heart of each one.

Remind yourself that God sees everything you do too. Be blessed in that. Especially if you sometimes feel taken for granted.

For a full list of online studies available on this site, please click here.

If there is a subject you would like to see on this site, please use the comment section below or drop us an email (there’s a link at the very top of the page). We can’t promise to cover them all. Our studies are usually prepared a month or two in advance, so please be patient.

For a full list of physical resources available through this site, please click here.