8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
When we are thankful for someone, we want to be with them. As Paul travelled around from place to place establishing church after church, he met multitudes of people, many of whom became followers of Christ. When he went on each successive journey, he also tried to stop back and visit some of these congregations. There were other churches, like Rome, where he had members of the church there, but had never been able to go see them there. In both situations, Paul always desired to go see them. If we are truly thankful for other Christians, we will want to be with them, and if we are not thankful for them, there is something wrong with us. Even more so, if we are really thankful to God for all He has given and done with us, we will want to be with Him - not only in heaven, but here and now, daily, and weekly in worship.
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