Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Thessalonians 1-5.

In his letter to the Thessalonian Believers, Paul repeats his warning against sexual immorality, and contrasts it with living a holy and honorable life.  He, also, connects it once again with taking advantage of others.  As he transitions to other topics Paul contrasts sex outside of marriage with loving others.  Paul directly contradicts the idea in our society that having sex with someone other than your spouse is an act of love.  Paul emphasizes that one aspect of loving others is minding your own business and having a productive job.  We should live our daily lives in a way which generates respect from those who are not Believers and avoid, as much as possible, being dependent on others.

Paul then goes on to what I believe is the main point of his letter.  He encourages his readers not to grieve over the death of their loved ones who are Believers.  We need not grieve because we know that God will raise those who have died in Christ, just as He raised Christ.  We have God’s promise that He will do this when Christ returns.  Further, those of us who have not yet died will be transformed into heavenly beings and live with Christ for eternity.  Aware that his reference to Christ’s return will cause some to attempt to determine when that will occur, Paul tells us that the time will come like a thief in the night, echoing Jesus’ statement that no one knows the day or the hour.  Nevertheless, those of us who are Believers should be prepared for it when it comes.  We should live our lives as if Jesus will return at any moment, because He indeed might.  As my father used to say, we should live our lives as if this day will be our last, but prepare for the future as if we will live indefinitely.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Thessalonians 1-5.

First I want to note that Paul writes about praying night and day.  I know I say this repeatedly, but every time I read what Paul writes about praying I feel called out.  By that, I mean that I am made aware of my shortcomings when it comes to prayer.  I do not pray nearly enough, and when I do pray, my prayers are not what they should be.  I continue to seek a tool which will do for my prayer life what writing this blog has done for my study of Scripture.  Pray that God shows me how to pray in the way in which He has made it clear to me that He desires.

There was a time when I wondered why Christians spent so much time condemning sexual immorality and not more time condemning greed and the oppression of the poor.  However, as I have been reading through the Bible each year in order to write these blog entries I have come to realize that sexual immorality is probably the thing which Paul writes about, in various ways, more than any other thing, except perhaps the need to love one another.  In fact, Paul’s teaching against sexual immorality often transitions to his teaching that we should love one another.  Paul seems to be telling us that sexual immorality and other forms of impurity function as a kind of counterfeit for true love of others.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Thessalonians 1-5

I am not sure I realized how much Paul emphasized that we should stay away from sexual sins until I started reading through the Bible every year to do this blog.  I knew it was something he wrote about, but my recollection was that I thought Paul mentioned it almost in passing.  However, that is not the case.  In each of his letters which I have read so far this year, Paul makes a strong point on the importance of staying away from sexual sins.  In fact, he contrasts living a holy life with living a life filled with lust.  Further, Paul writes that, contrary to what our society teaches today, sexual sin violates God’s command to love each other.  Paul is telling us that polyamory is not love.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Thessalonians 1-5

As I read this passage my mind went, I will write on this, no I will write on that.  The first thing that hit me once again was the conviction that I need to pray more.  I believe in the power of prayer.  Here Paul writes again about praying continuously for the believers to whom this letter is addressed.  I have written previously about how I am trying to increase the amount, and quality, of my prayer.  I realized the other night that the Holy Spirit has aided me in this although I am no where close to where I should be.  With the Holy Spirit’s help I will strive to pray more.  The next thing both scares and encourages me.  Paul speaks of being faithful in the face of trouble and persecution.  He warns that we should constantly be prepared for suffering and persecution.  This scares me because it suggests that suffering and persecution are in my future.  It encourages me because of the joy which Paul clearly had during his suffering.

Paul goes on the the meat of his message.  He writes that we should live in a way that pleases God.  In order to live such lives we must control our bodies, which means avoiding lustful passion.  Avoiding sexual sin is just the first step in living a life which pleases God.  In fact, God desires that we love others.  Paul reminds us to avoid sexual sin because our society often confuses sex for love, but sexual sin perverts love into a form of idolatry.