Monday, February 13, 2006
2 Thessalonians 2:13 "But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth."
THANKFUL FOR OUR SALVATION!
Discouragement and despair is something that all of us can relate to in one degree or another. During times like this, it is common to have a very negative outlook on life. We may have a hard time looking at our life and seeing the positive in things that have happened. When such a time comes, how do we respond? How do we deal with such situations when they arise in our lives? In writing to the Thessalonians, who being persecuted and facing great trouble in their lives (see Acts 17, and 1 Thessalonians 2:14), Paul offers words of encouragement, and some very good reasons to be thankful.
First Paul reminds discouraged believers that we should be thankful for the work of salvation which God has brought about in us. Paul says, "God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth." That is certainly something to be thankful for! Especially when we realize that there is nothing that we can do to earn it, and there is nothing that we can accumulate that we can give for it. Our salvation from sin and eternal death is something that only God can accomplish for us.
That word "chose" which Paul uses here has a very special meaning. Literally it means "to take for oneself." God has taken you for His very own. He has brought you into his family, as His very own child. Regardless of the sins you have committed, and the many ways you have broken His commands, He has chosen you as His own and gives you a new life in Him.
No matter how bad things may get in our lives, no matter how much God puts before us, we still have much to be thankful for. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves -- He has chosen us for eternal salvation!
