1 Thessalonians 5

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

To finish up the book of Thessalonians, Paul gives us another command to help our fellowship with God by saying, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (ESV)

What powerful words! Let's go through them, shall we? "Rejoice always." That's something we never do. Do we rejoice if our car gets hit by another? Do we rejoice when we jam our toe on the table leg? Do we rejoice when we find out that our credit cards have been denied? No! But Paul is telling us to do so. Back in the days when Paul wrote this letter, the Thessalonians were going through horrible persecution on a daily basis. The last thing they wanted to do was rejoice! But Paul told them to do so, because it will matter in the end. "Pray without ceasing." That's another tough one for us. I can tell you honestly that I do not pray every chance that I get. What Paul is telling to do, though, is just that. If we are killing time or waiting for something, why not say a quick prayer? It'll do nothing bad but grow our fellowship with God, and that is something that He loves. Lastly, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Paul retouches the same concept of rejoicing always. Give thanks in all circumstances! That's nearly impossible for us! As humans, it isn't normal to give thanks for the death of a family member or a friend. It's hard to give thanks when our house burns down, or we lose a job. There is a key component here though: THIS IS GOD'S WILL FOR US!!! God's will is for us to always give thanks, no matter the situation! Whether we are happy about it or sad about it, we are to always give thanks and continue on. It is His will after all.

The take away can be really hard to apply, but here it is: we need to obey God's will, no matter what it consists of. If He wants us to be happy, then we must be happy. If He wants us to rejoice, then rejoice. If it will make Him delighted when we talk to Him through prayer, then let's start praying more. Somehow or someway, by doing these things it will benefit us or others for the greater Good. By constantly showing happiness, it will inspire others to be just as happy or to ask us why we are always happy and give us a chance to share our faith. If we rejoice in pretty bad situations, then people will notice that and ask us the same thing. The more we pray, the more we will get to know God's will, which is never bad thing. Prayer grows our fellowship with Him, so we need to be taking advantage of that. Let's start doing what the Earth tells us is wrong, so that we will be given opportunities to share our relationship with Jesus.

Since this is the end of the book of 1 Thessalonians, I'd like to finish off with a prayer below:

God, I pray that throughout these 5 chapters of 1 Thessalonians, somewhere we were all convicted of something. I pray that everyone who reads this blog will get a new and different taste of what You have to say to us, and allow us to apply radical changes in our lives. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to write blogs like these and continue to analyze your Word. I love you so much and continue to pray for more comprehension and more blogs to be written in the future. Amen.