Are you one who is never grateful about anything? Or do you constantly feel discontentment due to never being satisfied with anything? These are some very direct questions; however the sad reality is that a “negative nancy” attitude and discontentment reign in the hearts of some. At the close of his first epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul lists a number of exhortations, among which he includes the following words: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 The. 5:16-18). In regard to these, it would do both the writer and reader well to take these words to heart and strive to do his or her best to live these commands out so as to make them a reality. 

When reading the letter of 1 Thessalonians you’ll see that its overarching theme is that of “The Second Coming of Christ” (1 The. 1:9, 10; 2:19, 20; 3:11-13; 4:15-17; 5:1-4). This great Bible true ought to thrill our souls with joy, knowing that one day His loving arms will receive us into the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34). There are various things which are implied by this, including God loving the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son into it for the saving of sinful mankind (John 3:16) and Jesus loving mankind so much that He was willing to demonstrate flawless obedience to the Father so that man could be reconciled to God. Let us now expound more upon these great Bible trues.

“The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell; it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell…” (“The Love of God” Lehman). When it comes to the love of God, what first comes to mind? If I were to ask you what happened to you spiritually when you obeyed the gospel, what would you say? Would you say you received the remission of your sins? We know this is true; however I want to shift our minds to something else. What if I told you that whenever you became a Christian you entered into a covenant with the Father and into a marriage relationship with the Son of God? Both of the aforementioned are true and sadly I know personally I have overlooked these things in my own life. I want for you to take a moment and ponder this: what if the Scriptures taught that God forgave you of your sins, but neither He nor Christ wanted a relationship with you? This is most saddening to think about. However, thanks be to God that the Scriptures don’t teach this. On the contrary, they teach that God does want a relationship with you and has provided the means by which you can be made acceptable in His sight to then be able to have fellowship with Him!

“Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me; Buried, He carried my sins far away; Rising, He justified freely, forever; One day He’s coming: O glorious day!” (“One Day” Chapman). In these few words we have encapsulated for us the gospel of Christ, and how wonderful it is to know and meditate on the fact that the Savior died for you and for me. The Scriptures teach that, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rm. 3:23) and that, “the wages of sin is death” (Rm. 6:23a). These things being so, we ought to be giving thanks to God on a daily basis that the, “gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rm. 6:23b). Paul, when writing to Titus, penned these never to be forgotten words: “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit…” (Titus 3:3-5). Let us never forget what Christ did for us and always possess and express a humble attitude in regard to His sacrifice knowing that we didn’t deserve it, but rather we deserved to spend an eternity in a devil’s hell (Ref. Matt. 25:41).

In closing, I want to remind us that the Christian’s life ought to be one of a continuously grateful heart and an attitude of joy permanently etched and engrained in our hearts and minds (1 The. 5:16; c.f. Php 4:4). I leave you with the words which the apostle John wrote: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:1-4).