Good Morning Friends,
“The Lord’s message rang out from you not only
in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore
we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind
of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve
the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised
from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” (1 Thessalonians
1:8-10)
What kind of reputation do you and your church
have among other people? Note the things the Thessalonians were known for …
They were known for their faith. They were
known as people who had a whole-hearted commitment to God and a willingness to
follow Him anywhere and do whatever He asked of them. They weren’t people who
had to “do their own thing,” but those who did God’s thing.
They were known for the good reception they
gave Paul and his message. The Thessalonians were willing to respond to Paul’s
message even though it ran counter to their traditions and counter to what the
majority of the people in their town did. They heard the truth and they
followed it willingly, despite its cost.
They were known for their repentance. They
turned from idols to God. They weren’t known as those who hung on to their
sins, who justified their sins, or who diminished the severity of their sins. They
owned their sins, acknowledged them to God, repented of them – gave them up!
They were known for waiting for Jesus to
return. I’d say that means they were known among the people of the world for
their foolishness and they were known among other Christians for believing what
Jesus said, even when it was beyond what they could imagine.
The Thessalonians’ reputation is one that is
worth imitating. What reputation do you have?
His, by Grace, Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment