Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1
Key Verse
1 Thessalonians 1:6 — “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.”
Devotional Thought
Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica alongside Silvanus and Timotheus, and his opening words are not a formality but a burst of genuine thanksgiving. He prays for these believers constantly, remembering three things: their work of faith, their labour of love, and their patience of hope. These are not abstract virtues but the lived evidence of God’s electing grace among ordinary people in a bustling port city. The gospel came to them, Paul says, not in word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. Something real had happened to them, and everyone could see it.
Their conversion was costly. Paul recalls that they received the word in much affliction, yet with joy of the Holy Ghost. That pairing—sorrow and joy together—is one of the great mysteries of the Christian life. They did not merely add Jesus to an otherwise comfortable existence; they turned from idols to serve the living and true God. That turning was public, visible, and it echoed outward. Paul says the word of the Lord sounded out from them throughout Macedonia and Achaia, so widely that he had no need to speak of it himself. Their faith had become its own testimony.
Notice the shape of their hope. They were waiting for God’s Son from heaven, the Jesus whom God raised from the dead, the One who delivers us from the wrath to come. Their faith looked backward to the resurrection and forward to the return, and in between they laboured and endured. This is what a healthy church looks like: not perfect people, but people whose lives have been reoriented around a living Saviour.
As February draws toward its close, the grey of winter can tempt us toward sluggishness. Thessalonica reminds us that new life in Christ is not seasonal. It breaks out in the middle of hard circumstances, and it travels. A quiet faithfulness in your own place—your work, your patience, your hope—may sound out further than you know. Paul gave thanks for such people. Perhaps someone is giving thanks for you.
Reflection
- Paul remembers the Thessalonians’ “work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope.” Which of these three is most evident in your life right now, and which most needs the Spirit’s strengthening?
- The Thessalonians “turned to God from idols.” What idols—comfort, approval, control, or something else—might God be asking you to turn from in this season?
Prayer
Father, we thank You for the gospel that came to us not in word only but in power and in the Holy Ghost. Like the Thessalonians, we have turned from idols to serve You, the living and true God, and we wait for Your Son from heaven, whom You raised from the dead. Strengthen our work of faith, our labour of love, and our patience of hope. When affliction comes, fill us with the joy of the Holy Ghost, and let our lives sound out Your word to those around us. Keep us faithful until the day Jesus returns. Amen.