Friday, February 17, 2006
2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord.
GOOD REASONS TO BE THANKFUL!
Martin Rinckart was a pastor who served a congregation in Eilenburg Germany during the mid 17th Century at a time when the Thirty Years' War was blazing in Europe. During this war many of the people of the area came to Eilenburg for safety, but the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions led to famine, disease and death for many of the people in that small town. During this dark time, Rinckart even lost his own wife.
We might expect that at this time his attitude would be one of despair and loss, but instead we find Rinckart confessing all that he had to be thankful for as he penned the words of the familiar hymn:
Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mothers arms hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love and still is ours today! (TLH 36:1)
When we are depressed or discouraged, we often realize our own weaknesses. We know that we are in trouble and we can't do things on our own. We know that we need help. In these verses to the Thessalonians, Paul reminds us that we have the help we need. Paul addresses the discouraged believers in Thessalonica as "brethren beloved by the Lord."
Think of how you feel when you are discouraged or depressed. Usually we feel very unloved, and that no one cares. We may even feel that God is upset with us and is showing us that through the trial we are facing. But Paul reminds those who are discouraged that through it all we remain "beloved by the Lord." The Lord loves us no matter what we are going through, and no matter what we might think of Him. In those situations, we may not feel that the LORD loves us, but we can rest assured that He does. As believers in Christ, and like Martin Rinckart, we have good reasons to be thankful!
