+DEV+ The Parent Speech

Date: July 2, 2012 11:46 PM
Topic: +DEV+  The Parent Speech

The Parent Speech

"May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."  (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
Scripture Focus: 1Thessalonians 5:12-24

Do you remember getting the "parent speech" when you were a kid right before leaving to stay overnight somewhere? You may have heard, "Don't forget to say please and thank you, and don't beg for anything, and be sure to help with clean-up, and" The "parent speech" went on; you barely heard the rest of it, being anxious to just go.

In Paul's final instructions to the church in Thessalonica, he gives at least 15 different directives. His words of admonishment sound like the mom at the door hanging on to her kid by the shirtsleeve while she rattles off the instructions one last time. But there is a huge difference: the child may want to escape without really paying attention, while the believer who reads these words need not feel that way. The child would be thinking that there is no way he will be able to do all those things correctly. The Christian reading Paul's words has the astonishing, comforting closing line that tells him, "The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it"!

Insight: The Lord Has Not Demanded Anything From Us That He Will Not Carry Us Through And That He Has Not Already Lived Out Himself.