In the late Spring of the year, many things begin to heat up and spur forward. It can be exciting and scary at the same time. Those with seniors in high school know of the thrills and chills of watching your little ones take the next step into their own lives. Sport fans rejoice as hockey and basketball are fighting tooth and nail to win their coveted trophies. Baseball trends are unfolding and talks of all-star picks fill the air; football fans are stirring for any news on recent draft picks, tryouts, and mini-camps.
Yes, life is most alive in the excitement of the times! This treasure of a budding season also brings some of the more violent storms. The sequence of life where opposites attract begins to unfold and life’s turmoil can heat up. We can be content that we are secure “brethren beloved by God, His choice of you (I Thessalonians 1:4)” ensures this.
Paul in his first letter to Thessalonica wrote to reassure the followers to continue on with their good works and faith. The faith that God the Father raised Jesus from the grave and will send Him again (1: 10). Reminding the faithful that they were always in prayer for them and set out a few cues for them as they continued on their own in the Lord.
Live in peace in brotherly love.
Admonish the unruly.
Encourage the fainthearted.
Help the weaker ones.
Use patience with all.
Do not repay evil with evil.
Seek after the good and the good in one another.
Rejoice and be thankful in all things.
Pray continually throughout your days.
Do not quench the Spirit.
Do not despise God’s words of insight and prophecy.
Examine what is before you and hold tightly to the good.
Refrain from evil (I Thessalonians 5: 13-22).
(These believers had faced tribulation and death in receiving the Gospel of Jesus. Paul and his company were concerned of the challenges that faced them, sent Timothy to lift up their faith and to ease his mind with a report of the believers’ status.)
Knowing these clues to a Christian life can make the choices we face a bit clearer although not always easier. It is the hope we find in Christ that keeps us racing towards the end (Colossians 1:27).
Godspeed, The Journeyman
Ps. Today’s story comes from a glimpse that He has chosen you. Don’t let the sounding gongs send you into despair, but fight it off with the Faith that is in you knowing He will come for you, His chosen and beloved (Song of Solomon 6:3). May the saltiness of the Lord be found in you!
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