I am finally falling in love with I Thessalonians! I have even found the verses that best describe how I approach life, love and ministry. And when I fail to live up to the standard put forth by Paul, Silas and Timothy, they are the guiding beacon by which I can align my heart and passion for serving and living out this Journey upon which my feet have embarked.
"For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed-- God is witness-- nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us...You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory." (I Thessalonians 2:3-8, 10-12, NASB)
It's a long passage, I know. I won't belabor the points I have previously made. (see Entrusted and Smelling Like Sheep) But I had to delve into this a little further with you, because this is my heart...right there on the page.
I am not a tender mother. My children can attest to this. But I remember the tenderness and joy of nursing my infant children.
God help me to never run rough-shod over any believer that is new to the faith. I fed my babies on demand, and as your newborns need fed in the timing that You create for their hunger, may I help feed them with the nourishment that You have already provided. May I never demand anything more from them than You are ready to give them. I trust that they will grow in Your timing...not mine.
And yet, at the same time, may I never stop 'exhorting, encouraging, and imploring' each Jesus-follower that You place in my path that they absolutely can "walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls" us.
For Abba, Your grace is beyond measure. Why? Because You never conscript us into service. You never require that we give away all that you have blessed us with...no...but freely I surrender my time...my gifts...and my stuff...because of where you do call me: Your own Kingdom and glory.
These are gifts I cannot repay. My life remains as the only offering that I can lay on the altar of sacrifice. If by my life or my death I can help someone catch just a whisper of the precious Kingdom and glory to which you call each of us...then may it be so.
The family of God.
I remember singing about it as a child. And this week, You've begun prying open my heart to understand. As others have for me, may I nurture and feed as a mother would her own...and like a father, may I radically inspire and call out in others the beauty and grace of the Light in which You want us to sojourn together.
Amen.
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