A little while ago, I produced a verse by verse series in Philippians. I really enjoyed that exercise and have been wondering if I should take on another book. Well it turns out that 1 Thessalonians is the victim of my machinations, and hopefully, the thoughts produced by this fantastic book will edify and encourage the reader.

As with Philippians I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

1 Thessalonians 1:5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

In our last posting, I intentionally did not address the last sentence in the verse, since I anticipate it to carry a message worthy of it’s own consideration.

1 Thessalonians 1:5B …You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

At first glance, Paul seems to divert from his message of the Thessalonians new life, by speaking of his teams behavior among them.

I am not convinced this is a diversion, for he will refer to his witness among them a number of times in the letter, giving weight to the importance of the saint having not only a verbal message, but a life witness that speaks the same.

In our very next verse, Paul speaks of the impact of his physical witness, of his actions, and not simply agreeing to facts, precious as they are.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord….

Notice that Paul spoke of imitation, not simply agreeing with him and his team. It wasn’t as if they had a debate and some in the audience gave mental assent to the argument provided. They imitated the apostle and those of his team. This implies very strongly that these folks had watched the apostolic team in their actions, had interacted with them in their decision making process, had watched them work and toil as they stayed in the city, and had been rejected by the populace.

Next chapter, Paul again speaks of sharing his life with them, and not simply his mental and spiritual understanding of the mysteries of God. He emphasizes his life with them.

1 Thessalonians 2:8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

Paul again raises the topic of the importance of sharing the lives of the team with those they ministered to. Paul and his team were living out the gospel message, and the motivation of love was driving them to an open expression of life to the Thessalonians.

To be painfully honest, I can not imagine this environment was a typical church service type of situation, where Paul got up in front of the audience, provided a monologue of doctrine, and then went home until Wednesday night prayer meeting. In my mind’s eye, I can imagine a dialogue type of environment, where Paul spoke of personal experiences of the truth of the gospel directing his actions, with the resultant impacts, successes and disappointments being shared with those in his presence. He was with them, and seemingly an open book for them to read!

1 Thessalonians 4:1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.

Paul pleads with the Thessalonians to remember their witness amongst them, that they walk as the apostle and his team walked, (not just thought as the apostles team thought), and to continue to please God.

This witness of Paul, in combination with the preaching of the Word, impacted these Thessalonians to the point where they repented of their ways, turned to Christ and pleased God.

Remember, Paul was amongst them for less than 21 days, and they saw enough to be convinced of the message, turning from idols and growing into Christians.

Truly amazing!

Who was your “Paul”? Did you have someone you could watch live the Christian life? Someone who did more than provide a message, a critical message, but also backed that message up with their own life, a sacrifice for others?

How about your life? Is it reflective of the Master, and is there enough there to make a difference in someone else, someone who has just heard and believed the good news of Jesus?

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.