God, who tests our hearts.

 

Tuesday, December 5, 2023


Psalms 82; 84

Isaiah 40:18-31

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12


God, who tests our hearts.


There is only one true God, and He is the great I Am. God’s ways are true and honest, straight and narrow, loving truth and goodness. Within the great I Am, the Rock of Ages, the Ancient of Days, are many names. Each name describes a facet of the great jewel of God, shining out His different aspects across time and space.


Paul, missionary, ambassador and emissary of the Lord Jesus Christ, is eager and careful to do nothing except that which brings glory to God. He has preached the kingdom of heaven to the people of Thessalonica and has been rewarded with discovering a number of God’s people among the population. Having shepherded them into a church – a body of worshipping disciples of Jesus – he now follows up on them, to see how they are travelling on their narrow path, to encourage them further to deeper faith and greater works of love.


Reminding them of how he cared for them, Paul uses the opportunity to remind them how we can best imitate Christ in our own lives. Just as God is the God Who Tests Our Hearts, so too are we to endeavour to live honest and generous lives. Just as God is pure and knows the honesty of our intentions, we are to demonstrate the honesty of our intentions by living generously towards our brothers and sisters in Christ.


Doing something in order to gain an advantage over another human being is the opposite of godliness. God is not sneaky and manipulative. God is generous and loving, and we know this because God says so, and God proves it by His actions.


Finally, Paul makes some encouraging similes. He lived the Christian life by being generous with both the gospel and indeed himself, just like a mother. Paul also was like a father by encouraging, comforting and urging the Thessalonians to live lives worthy of God and His calling. Both men and women are made in the image of God; we both reflect different aspects of God’s goodness. This is a good lesson for us all. We can both look at how to better embrace the particular gifts given to us by virtue of our own sex, as well as expanding our Christ-likeness by tending to those blessings that the other exhibits so naturally.

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