2 Thessalonians 1 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28 and 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12.

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

How easy it is to get bogged down with fear that we aren’t going to make it. We mess up so much and we have been so blistered by the concept that one mistake can blast us to hell. Some of us just want to throw our hands up in the air and give up.

But Paul encourages us. We are not alone. God will sanctify us. He is setting us apart. He is growing us. He is working in us. He will keep us blameless. He is faithful. We can trust Him to do it.

We just need to hang on to Him. Don’t give up today. Hang on to God today. He is working on you. He will do it.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your in put by clicking the following link: Post a comment.

And Now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.–(Acts 20:32, ESV)

Why are we doing this? Why do we crack open that dusty old book, written by men of outdated cultures to people who are behind the times?

Is it because God has declared, “Here is my rule, read your Bible every day!”? Is it because some preacher has guilted us into thinking we are only spiritual when we read our Bible every day? Is it because when we read our Bibles every day it makes us better than all those other people who aren’t as spiritual as we are?

No. No. And No. We are doing this because Jesus has the words of eternal life (cf. John 6:68). The only way for us to get that life is to be in His Word. We aren’t busy trying to draw all the lines, dot all the i’s, cross all the t’s so we can be good enough and have read our Bible’s enough to go to heaven. That fact is, we can’t be that good. We can’t read our Bible’s enough to earn heaven. 

However, when we get in the Word and get the Word in us. Then the life that flows from God pours into our hearts. Then we are built up. Then we gain the inheritance reserved for the sanctified and set apart. That doesn’t happen because we checked daily Bible reading off our to do list. It happens because we surrendered to God and His word.

Keep the faith today and keep reading.

ELC