1 Thessalonians 5:18-22

1 Thessalonians 5:18-22

In all things, give thanks.  For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus into you all.  Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies.  But examine all things; hold fast to the good thing.  Abstain from every appearance of evil.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Give thanks.  In other words, we are to live with an attitude of gratitude.  On the surface, that doesn’t seem all that difficult.  After all, when we think about all that God has done for us why wouldn’t we give thanks?  We have received eternal life when we should deserve condemnation.  However, in practice it isn’t all that easy.  Life can get us down.  We can worry.  We can doubt.  We can get yelled at.  We can make mistakes.  We can do things that cause us and others to suffer.  In those situations, it is difficult to give thanks.  It is difficult to give thanks when we are impacted by our sinfulness.  It is difficult to give thanks when we are impacting others in our sinfulness.  It is difficult to forgive when we have to deal with the consequences of others’ sinfulness.  But in all of those times and places, our reality is unchanged.  We are saved and do not deserve it.  We always have reason to give thanks.

How are you at giving thanks?  Do you give thanks as you ought?

Second Thought:

Do not quench the Spirit and do not despise prophecies.  In other words, when God desires to teach us and guide us, we are to listen and obey.  When God desires to work through us, we are to follow and open ourselves up to Him.  We need to live in such a way that is prepared to receive from God.

How willing are you to receive from God?  How prepared are you to receive from God?

Third Thought:

Finally, we are to examine all things.  In doing so, we are to hold fast to what is good.  That makes sense, of course.  But what really caught my eye today is the warning against evil.  It doesn’t just say, “Don’t hold fast to evil.”  No!  It actually says, “Don’t even have anything to do with the appearance of evil.”  Evil is so dangerous and so misleading and so destructive to the community that we are to not even give an appearance of evil.  That’s powerful advice.  It’s one thing to not actually do any evil.  It is another thing entirely to not even give off an appearance of evil.

Where might you give off an appearance of evil in your life even if you aren’t actually guilty of doing it?  Why is this an important angle to consider even if we aren’t actually guilty of evil?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24