An Unpopular Appointment

That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.  1 Thessalonians 3:3 

 

  A thought jumped out at me this morning as I read these verses, Paul recognizes here that he is appointed to suffer for the cause of Christ.  The latter part of this verse says so, for yourselvs know that we are appointed thereunto.  Thereunto what?  The answer, these afflictions.  Paul understood his appointment was to suffer for Christ sake.  He had no problem with that.  He acknowledged that, he accepted that. He was willing to suffer for His Lord.

 

In a day of comfort, am I?  We are living in a time of comfort.  We have the most comfortable world we have ever had.  We have new luxuries and gadgets, all designed to make us comfort.  And it's carried over to our Christian walk.  We have so watered down Christianity in an effort to be a more comfortable Christian.

 

Now mind you, I'm not saying I want to suffer.  But I must search my heart and ask, would I?  Would I be willing to suffer?  Would I accept it as my appointment, something that was required of me, or would I complain and make accusation against God?  My God give us all the steadfastness of Paul, willing to accept our appointment, even when it is an unpopular one like afflictions.

Can I Be Trusted?

1 Thessalonians 2:4  But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak;

 

As I was reading this morning these words jumped out at me.  I asked myself, can I be trusted with the Gospel?  You see, God when He gave me the Gospel, gave me a very precious treasure.  It is a treasure that exceeds all value of any earthly possession.  The assurance of knowing one has a home in heaven throughout eternity is worth far more than gold.  Thank God that I have that assurance, but what am I doing with it?  Have I hid it in a closet somewhere?  Have I buried it?  By doing so, I have in turn diminished its value.

 

This treasure only has true value when it is shared.  God has trusted me with the Gospel.  What am I doing with it?  Have I proven myself trustworthy?