Like a tree, the Thessalonian believers were growing, flourishing, … THRIVING! Perhaps it was the persecution that the Thessalonians endured that moved them to grow. In a time and place when being a believer could get you killed, they did more than survive, they thrived. What was their secret? Don’t you want to do more than just get by? To move out of maintenance mode? It’s time to thrive!
Paul says that we should “honor” our spiritual leaders. In a culture that celebrates individualism and rebellion against authority, we must swim upstream to honor our leaders. It goes against our worldview. Yet, those who follow Christ have transformed minds that recognize this need for submission to authority. Do you honor your pastors, teachers, small group leaders… do you honor those who lead in the Lord’s work?
Paul instructed believers to live and work in such a way that their lives gave credibility to the message of the gospel. Another benefit of such a lifestyle was that they weren’t dependent on the church, their neighbors or the government for their needs. In fact, such a lifestyle led to a surplus that allowed them to help others. Our lifestyle and work should be a platform for proclaiming Christ and our dependence on Him alone. Living for Christ makes us producers/givers, not consumers/takers.
This is God’s response after Jeremiah cried out in prayer about the persecution he was enduring due to the message God had given him to preach. Everyone who is faithful to share God’s message will be tempted to be “influenced” by men rather than God. But if you speak His Word faithfully, He will make you like a “fortified wall of bronze” who influences others. Do you want to be influential for God?
Paul applauded the Thessalonian believers for how they “looked forward” to Christ’s return. When we are “looking forward” to a vacation, a wedding day, a birth or a graduation, what kinds of things do we do? Do we mark the calendar and count the days? Do we talk about the upcoming day with others? Do we pack our bags and organize our lives accordingly? Do we work and prepare? If we do all these things and more to prepare for worldly occasions, what might it look like for us to live “looking forward” to Christ’s return?
Your true employer is Jesus Christ. Don’t worry about layoffs, mergers or economic slow-downs. God is your provider. With this in mind, work with all your hearts for Him, as if you were signing Christ’s name to your work. People take note of one who works wholeheartedly like this. It not only attracts them to your work, it causes them to want to hear about the One you claim to work for.
Paul encouraged the Colossians to fill their lives with preaching, teaching and singing about Christ. A couple thousand years later and faithful Christians are still following this pattern. Let’s go to church today and join Paul and the Colossians in worshiping the Christ!
Like many in our modern generation, the people of Judah replied, “No, that’s not the road we want!” Within their lifetimes the land of Judah fell and the people were carried into Babylonian exile. There are “crossroad” moments for every nation and generation. I wonder what our generation will decide. Will they choose the old, godly way or not?
Do you understand what God has done? The punishment that was due us has been spent on Christ’s “physical body,” so that there is none left for us. The penalty for sin has been paid in full. When we accept Christ, we are redeemed from sin’s penalty and we are reconciled to God. Christ took our sin, our separation and our death and offers us His righteousness, His Sonship and His eternal life.
If you want to know what God is like, then gaze upon the face of Jesus. Read the gospels and see God’s nature revealed. Through Christ, God has created all, offers redemption and sustains all. Everything was made by Christ and for Christ. You were made for Him.