Today's Scripture
our purpose – 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: 1 Thessalonians 1-5 2 Thessalonians 1-3 (CEB)
Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication; 4 that each one of you know how to control your own body in holiness and honor, 5 not with lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one wrong or exploit a brother or sister in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, just as we have already told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God did not call us to impurity but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever rejects this rejects not human authority but God, who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.
What does this passage mean to me/us
When we read this passage, we do need to understand the backdrop of the culture. The “…live in a sexually promiscuous culture, where the goddess Aphrodite, who was among the most popular deities in Thessalonica, was the symbol of sexual license and the patroness of prostitutes (Gene L. Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians [Eerdmans/Apollos], p. 35). Men could go to pagan temples and commit immorality with priestesses as an act of religious devotion. Various forms of extramarital sex were tolerated and even encouraged.” (Click here to read more) The question is what is our cultural backdrop?
Paul says that our purpose should be focused on “how you ought to live and to please God” (v. 1).
We are called to live according to God’s will, not ours. When we focus on following God’s will, we are able to live in holiness.
When we lose our focus, we can easily fall into idols, which is following our own desire.
Prayer
Lord, help us to focus on your will and your will only. In Christ name, we pray, AMEN.
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