1 Thessalonians 1.2-3 2 We give thanks to God always for
all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our
God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is nothing like a winning team…unless you’re
rooting for the other guys. Paul seemed to have a genuine heart for this
special group of people in the Church in Thessalonica. He knew them because of
their work in faith: knowing what God wanted them to do and doing it; for their
labor in love: they did what they did because they were filled with love for
God and people; and their steadfastness in hope: believing and doing because
they saw past the darkness of now to that brighter day when darkness would be
banished forever. Wow! What a group!
I think some lessons for me are simply knowing: what to do for God. As Twain once remarked:
it isn’t the parts of the Bible I don’t understand that I have trouble with –
it’s the parts of the Bible I do understand… What does God want from me? Love
Him and love people. Not rocket science, not brain surgery – just openness, honesty,
and genuine-ness with my fellow man that we are all in this thing together and
need God to make it through.
And laboring in love – loving God with all I have to love
His creatures and creation with generosity, respect, and always, their best at
heart in all I do.
And steadfastness in hope: looking forward in eager
expectation of that brighter day when darkness is no more. I don’t do what I do
so much for the here and now, but for that day when the eternal light shall
shine upon all of God’s realms and no darkness or shadow of change will interrupt.
Hope leads me to what comes next but faith and love keep me grounded in the
now.
The adventure is now. Prayers are for now. Faith and the Love
are for now in hope: the grand expectation of then when God’s purposes will be fulfilled and new vistas of
eternity will beckon us to what lays beyond.
For now it is Faith, Love, and Hope; and the Thessalonian
Church was a group of people known for those things. I want to be known for
those things and hang around others who are known for those things. This world
needs people known for those things who withstand the ridicule and the
persecution because their eyes are forever fixed on that brighter day. I want
to be in that number…
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