Playing Follow the Leader

Read: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-7

What kind of person do you idolize?  Someone who is brave, successful, popular?  Maybe an athlete, an entrepreneur, an actor or actress, a coach, teacher, or parent?  Who inspires you?  Would you be anxious to say to others, “Follow my example?”

In today’s reading, the Apostle Paul describes how grateful he was for a group of young Jesus followers in a town called Thessalonica.

Paul had first visited Thessalonica after being miraculously freed from prison in Philippi.  After spending only three weeks in Thessalonica, the power of the Holy Spirit through Paul’s message of the good news of Jesus was gathering momentum.  “Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.” (Acts 17:4)

The religious leaders of the town became jealous, so they ran Paul and Silas out of town.

Wouldn’t that be discouraging?  Yet, it did not squash the message of God’s saving grace from having its effect. Despite this opposition, the gathering of those who believed Paul’s message about Jesus GREW! 

Perhaps that is why Paul found it so urgent to write to this band of new believers. Not only to urge them to continue to follow his example of faith, love, and hope, but also that Paul himself was seeing God’s miraculous power in them!  And he was encouraged and grateful.

You see, these Thessalonians saw something different in Paul. They did not see someone who only spoke eloquent, convincing words, with conviction.  They also witnessed firsthand, how his Holy Spirit powered conviction displayed itself in his works of faith, his labor of love, and his patience of hope.    

Watching Paul’s example, they were inspired to “receive the word in much affliction.”  They did not just face their troubles with a resigned fatalism, they faced it with JOY! They emulated Paul's example. 

These new believers, though they still had much to learn, and were facing “much affliction,” but they were influencing others!  There were people who had learned of the good news in neighboring cities, Macedonia, and Achaia, who were discourage and disheartened.  But God used the story of the Thessalonian’s to inspire and encourage them. 

Who has been an example of great faith in your life?  How did their actions and attitudes put the heart of God on display through their works of faith, their labor of love, and their patience of hope?

How is God using you to inspire people to see what following Jesus looks like? Do your words and your actions align?  Does your life make people curious about the faith, love and hope that is within you?  

How can you depend more upon the POWER of the Holy Spirit to display work produced by faith, labor prompted by love, and endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ?