"How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?" 1Thes. 3:9
It's easy to lump this verse in with all the others in this whole theme of "to lead someone to salvation and then actually see them following Christ is the greatest pleasure one can have here on this planet." If we rush through it, we miss the other greatest pleasure one can have on this planet which leads to the previous greatest pleasure one could experience on this planet.
Paul definitely has great joy in seeing "his children" growing up. Don't we all? What a pleasure. As tough as it can be to raise kids, now that it's done we wish we could time travel back and relive moments but we can't so we relive it through our grandkids. The thing we miss in this verse is that Paul has this joy... "in the presence of our God"!
Do you ever go to church and certain days you are overwhelmed with the presence of God and other days you are going through the motions? Or the same goes for your quiet times? Isn't this the greatest thing in life when you bask in the presence of God? When Paul is praying or worshipping, his mind goes to his children in the faith and it sends his heart into an attitude of thanksgiving and offering praises to God which is rewarded with an overdose of God's presence. When your week is filled with the cares of this world and you go to a place where you might find God's presence ... crickets. But when you are about His business and living for His kingdom, hang on because you are going to experience what we are made for.
The question is, are you looking for the presence of God?
No comments:
Post a Comment