When Timothy had
returned from Thessalonica to Paul, he shared with him the good news concerning
the believers there. Apparently they were still full of love and faith. Besides,
they also remembered the apostle fondly, and were yearning to see him and his
team just as much as Paul himself had longed to see them. So overwhelmed was
the apostle that he burst out with inexplicable joy. On hearing that they were
standing firm in the Lord, he was relieved, and that injected a new lease of
life into him. In verse 9 we see him welled up in thanksgiving to the Lord for
them. He was then motivated and moved to pray for them earnestly and
unceasingly.
So inspired
was Paul that he uttered a prayer for them there and then. He requested that God
to open the way and direct his team to the Thessalonians again (v.11). Praise
God, this prayer was answered and he visited them two times in his third
missionary journey (Acts 20:1-3). He also prayed for the Lord’s love in them to
increase and overflow toward one another and even for all men. Finally, he
prayed that God would strengthen their hearts and cause them to walk
blamelessly in holiness before God the Father. His desire was that they would
be preserved and sanctified for the Coming of our Lord Jesus. Truly the Second
Coming of Christ is a great motivation for us believers to live a life of
holiness as well.
The certainty
of His second coming set the pace for us to live well now. It’s wonderful to
know that we are not trying to live our lives without any heavenly resource. We
must lean on the person of the Holy Spirit as we go about each day. Like Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 15:58, we must remain “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our toil is not in vain
in the Lord.”
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