Thursday, 30 July 2020 2 Thessalonians 3: 1-18
“And may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all.” -2 Thessalonians 3:16
Today’s scripture portion begins with Apostle Paul soliciting prayer from the new believers in Christ at Thessalonica that, the Word of the Lord may spread and that they might be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men who do not believe in Jesus. He then encourages the Thessalonians with his own conviction in 2 Thessalonians 3:2 “But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and guard you from the evil.”
Throughout the Bible, we see this principle in action in the lives of the men of God. An example is Mordecai from the book of Esther whom the unbelieving wicked men plotted to kill because of his belief in the God of Israel. We all know the end, of how he was saved from the plot of the enemy and was established in the King’s Palace. Several others like –Joseph in the book of Genesis and Prophet Daniel, along with Apostle Paul himself are examples of this principle at work. You can see the protection and deliverance of God from the evil plotted against them. God guarded and delivered Paul from wicked men to establish his ministry in order to plant His church in all those places.
After requesting for prayers Apostle Paul exhorts the Thessalonians about the ethics of work to be followed and encourages them to work for their necessities. In the world we see the general principle that all living creatures work for their food ever since man was sent out of Eden. Genesis 3:19 says “…by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread…” Paul exhorts all to work for their physical needs and not to give unnecessarily to lazy people, by reminding them of his own example of laboring night and day while he was with them.
Paul makes it very clear that we believers have no excuse for refraining from doing good. 2Thessalonians 3:13 states, “as for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” Today’s world of hypocrisy has made it difficult for us to trust others and has caused many to refrain from helping deserving people or causes. But 2 Thessalonians 3:3 says that the Lord is faithful and will establish us and guard us from evil. So Christians have no excuse for refraining from doing good, out of fear of being cheated. If our motives are according to the word and will of God, then He will establish and guard us from evil. The story of the Good Samaritan, a widely known parable by Jesus Christ sets a standard for good deeds expected of us, Christians.
Lastly, Apostle Paul exhorts believers to love unbelievers and admonish them like brothers, so that they also may believe in Jesus Christ. When we believers share the gospel without fear, we have to be ready to work for our physical needs, to do good always, to admonish unbelievers with brotherly love so that the peace of the Lord will fill our hearts. Apostle Paul understood this principle so he blesses his new brothers and sisters in Christ by asking the Lord of peace to give them peace as seen in the key verse above.
Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God no matter what the conflict. (Anon)
Prayer :
“Dear Lord, help us to work for the gospel without fearing evil. Give us the grace to do good always irrespective of the response or attitude we face from others. Then as your word says we believe that You will establish us, guard us and fill us with your peace. Amen.."