Read with Me
2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 (HCSB)
But we must always thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, either by our message or by our letter.
May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.
Listen with Me
Paul closes out the instructional section of this letter by reassuring the Thessalonian believers that they are truly standing on solid ground and don’t need to fear the future.
The first sign of this security is the fact that they had eagerly believed the truth about Jesus when it was presented to them. That showed that God was already at work in their hearts and lives, drawing them to Himself even before they had heard the good news.
But the second sign was just as important: God’s sanctifying work in their lives, helping them to grow in knowledge of the truth, and actually making them holy, Christlike from the inside out. That inner transformation revealing itself in a holy lifestyle is something that cannot be faked and is something that no false religion can provide.
Since these clear signs of new life have been shown in the lives of the Thessalonian believers, what was needed now was steadfastness. They needed to persevere in the face of adversity and persecution, and to stay true to the teaching they had received, refusing to allow themselves to be blown off course by the winds of alarmism or strange teachings.
As Paul blesses his readers, he looks back on his own journey with God, a journey full of great blessings, but also full of challenges, trials, and fighting opposition. He recognized that God had shown him love through every trial, and that He had given him hope and encouragement in every hardship he had faced. And now he prayed that same hope and encouragement into the lives and hearts of his readers so that they could be continually strengthened in every way.
Pray with Me
Father, I know how powerful it is to remember Your faithfulness in the past, and how it can strengthen and encourage us in the present. But sometimes we forget to remember. We lose track of Your past faithfulness in the midst of our present challenges. And, at those times, the way seems more difficult, more challenging than it needs to be. Help me, Lord, to establish the habit of faithfully looking back, of remembering how You have walked with me through the death-dark valleys and have lighted my way with Your grace and strength. Help me to remember what I was when You reached down to save me, and to see the many ways in which You have transformed my life. Help me to walk each day faithful to You and to Your calling on my life, from now on, all the rest of my days. Amen.