May the mumbling commence!
There is one debt outstanding. In a nation obsessed with debt, we need to remember that there is one debt that is always outstanding. Read about this debt in 1 Thessalonians 4:
Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (Verses 9-12)
The Thessalonian church needed no lessons on love. Indeed, this church could do the teaching. Still, Paul encouraged them to do so more and more. Is any amount of love ever enough? No, the debt of love is never paid in full. Loving is never done.
So, how is the Thessalonian church and all those adept at loving to do so more and more? The answer to this question is in the verses that follow that sentence. The answer does not change over the centuries. Lead a quiet life. Mind your own business. Work with your hands. Do these things so that the example of your daily life with ooze with love. This lived out love will win the respect of outsiders. Do these things so that your dependence will be on nobody. This is not a pull-you-up-by-your-own-bootstraps mentality. This is not a self-made man or woman type of attitude – in total disregard attitude.
Shout it from the rooftops: “I am dependent of the Lord alone!” Therefore, I am dependent on nothing or no one else. In the case of everything and everyone else, I am interdependent. Indeed, learning to love is beyond a life-time’s work.
Still, as First Thessalonians says in chapter five, verses sixteen to eighteen: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Yes, in this day before Thanksgiving, we are to give thanks in all circumstances. So, no matter where you find yourself in this time of thankfulness, give thanks for those you love and what you have. Thankfulness is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. What a joy! What a need for a call to prayer!
Thankfulness is something easy to forget when things aren’t going our way. Well, when things don’t seem to be going our way, let’s take up the way of God! Paul and the Thessalonians knew hardship that most of us have never known. Read from 2 Thessalonians chapter 1:
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.
All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. (Verses 3-7a)
“We ought always to thank God for you…” Even Paul sometimes forgot to give thanks from time to time! When we suffer for the sake of Jesus’ name, we are not only can receive comfort from the fact that God is just and He will pay back but we can also receive comfort knowing that God counts us worthy of the kingdom. Yes, give thanks, even when you are singing the kingdom blues!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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