16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Very early on in my walk with the Lord, a beloved friend and sister in the Lord gave me a very simple, but for me, very powerful sermon on this verse. Here it is:
Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for ME.
AND the changing of that one pronoun made all the difference to me. It was the first time I had heard someone personalize the scriptures. It hit home at that moment that all the words of God were for me. Verses 16, 17 and 18 of 1 Thessalonians were His words to ME!
Beloved…Rejoice always because He is our source of hope and joy as believers. His song in our hearts is the background melody of our life. He never changes, is always with us and nothing…not even death…can separate us from Him. We are His forever.
Pray without ceasing because we need Him moment by moment and without Him we can do nothing good.
In everything give thanks because all that we are and all that we have comes from Him. The very breath that we take depends on Him. The giving of thanks brings us back to rejoicing always because when we give thanks, we REMEMBER the GIVER. AND, remembering the Giver, brings joy. Verse 16 then becomes to us a beautiful endless loop of grace that hedges us and enables us to walk in His love.
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the LORD forever,
For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.—Isaiah 26:3-4
