Bible Reading: 1 Kings 20; 1 Thessalonians 3; Daniel 2; Psalm 106
1 Thessalonians 3:8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.
Is your life a part of a body of believers? Paul’s life was tied to other believers in such a way that their spiritual well-being was considered life for him. He really believed what he wrote about the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
This truly is God’s will for his people. He wants us to be tied together in the local church with other believers so that we have true Biblical fellowship. God intends for us to be one as Christ and the Father are one (John 17:21). Do you invest in the church to that extent? Today many ‘go to church’ but are not necessarily a part of the church. They simply go, sit, listen and leave after the sermon is over. They don’t get to know people and they don’t serve. Is that really what God intended? A close reading of the New Testament tells us that the church is God’s family. He wants us to be close. He calls us brothers and sisters.
Romans 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
A shared empathy cannot happen if you don’t know people. The way to get to know people in the body of Christ is to spend time with them. The church should pray together and serve together. We should love one another.
Even thought Paul was separated from the Thessalonian believers, he was praying that he would be returned to them soon.
1 Thessalonians 3:11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
Paul wanted the people he had led to Christ to stand fast in the Lord. He did not want them to have a wishy-washy faith. He wanted them to be strong soldiers in the army of Christ. That would be life for him! For Paul two things mattered – his relationship with Jesus and the relationships he had with other people. Can you and I say that today?
In Christ,
Rody
