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In his first letter to the Thessalonians Paul writes these words to his readers in verses thirteen to twenty-four:

Live in peace with each other.  And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. 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.

 

As believers and followers of Jesus we are often encouraged to become more like Jesus and to live out our lives following the guidelines found in the word.  Perhaps there are times when you think what exactly am I to do to accomplish this.  These verses are just one example where we as believers are given things to do and things not to do.  Here’s an interesting exercise.  Count the number of things in the text we are told to do.  I have counted eleven!  Then count the number of things we are told not to do.  I have counted three!

 

Note that at the end of Paul’s list of do’s and don’ts he prays that God would sanctify his readers through and through. Sanctify in simple terms means to be set apart from the world for God’s purposes. Practicing the do’s and don’ts in our day to day lives does set us apart from the people of the world. Being different by practicing these do’s and don’ts is just one aspect of sanctification but an important one.

 

In this internet driven world we seem to be pestered these days with requests to complete a survey on a company’s service quality etc. by giving it a rating of 1 to 10.  To finish our little exercise, list the do’s and don’ts you have found and then in considering your own life rate yourself on a scale of one to ten for each one.

 

In doing so perhaps we have identified some things that would be good to work on with the Lord during this Lenten season.

         

Pastor Dave