Reading: II Thessalonians 2:13, 13But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
Philippians 1:3-4, 3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,
Do you know what I noticed about this passage? But, the curiosity rose and I began to look at other passages. Paul doesn’t say, “Thank you” to the people of Thessalonica. He said, “We ought always to thank God for you.” I think you’ll find over and over again that Paul does not thank the people but, rather, thanks God for them and who they’ve become. Seemingly petty? Unimportant significance? Not at all! Paul understood the concept, as James says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” He understood that God deserves all of the praise and adoration for everything. It sheds a different light not simply on our way of saying thank you but also our perception of our own good deeds. Are we okay with never receiving a “thank you” but rather allowing God to get the thanks and praise. This would allow you and I the ability to have a proper perception of ourselves. That the “good and perfect gift” is not from us, rather, we were merely instruments being used by God to meet a need.
Who should we be thanking God for today?
REVIEW
What were you able to do for someone today while making sure that God alone received all the thanks, gratitude and praise?
How did this impact your perception of the good things that you do?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment