Here’s a well-known memory verse from 1 Thessalonians: “Be joyful always, pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances.” 1 Thessalonians is a book we perhaps don’t read very often, so I thought it might be interesting to read it through over some blog posts.
1 Thessalonians is one of the earliest of Paul’s letters, and it opens with the standard style greeting that we may recognise from his other letters. He says who the letter is from, and who it is sent to, in this case the church in Thessalonians.
As I read the opening verses, I wonder what it would have been like to be in that church, receiving this letter. The people knew Paul – he had worked with them for some time, telling them about Jesus and starting the church – but he had now moved on. Excitingly, he still remembered them, and wanted to encourage them in their faith.
Is there someone like that for you? Someone who helped you get started with Jesus, or who played a significant part in your journey with Jesus, who you’re no longer in regular contact with? What would they write to you?
Paul says he does three things: he thanks God for them, he continually prays for them, and he remembers the things they do. I find that incredibly touching and incredibly challenging!
I’d love there to be someone who thanks God for me, prays for me, and remembers me. But don’t you think that’s challenging too?
Even more so, if we notice the three things that Paul says he’s remembering:
- Their work produced by faith
- Their labour prompted by love
- Their endurance inspired by hope in Jesus
Could someone say the same about you? If a friend wrote that to me it would definitely be an encouragement to grow in faith, love and hope in order to live up to what they were remembering!
And those attributes all bear fruit in different ways. Paul is not saying that we earn our place with God by what we do, but that living faith, love and hope in Jesus affect what we do and how we act.
I find these opening verses an encouragement (as well as a challenge) to ask myself, “could someone say this of me?” What about you?
And is there someone else you could say these things about to encourage them?