Hold on Tight

Read 2 Thessalonians 1:1–2:17

16. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope,
17. comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.
3:1. Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you.
2. Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer.
3. But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.
4. And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you.
5. May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:16–3:5

Acar accident wipes out a family. Cancer strikes a young wife and mother. A poor managerial decision puts an eager, productive employee out of work. Rebel soldiers slaughter people huddled in a church. Some events in life make no sense at all. That is why we call them tragedies.

In this reading, Paul offers no easy answers for life’s hardships. He does, however, offer one piece of advice that, if followed, brings real comfort and encouragement for those who are persecuted. At the same time, he warns us of the evil in this world, in particular, of those who speak falsely for God.

God had given gifts of infinite value to the Thessalonians. Paul urged the Thessalonians to thank God for these gifts. Yet Paul also knew that they would face challenges to their belief in Christ. They would have doubts, and certain people and circumstances would encourage those doubts. Unless the Thessalonians had a firm conviction about all they had been taught, their faith would die. So Paul urged them to “stand firm and keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you” (2 Thessalonians 2:15). They had the Scriptures and the letters that Paul had written to keep them on track.

As he did for the Thessalonians, God has given us a great gift—his Word. Yet it is so easy to take this gift for granted and not use it. When we stop using his gift, we make ourselves more susceptible to falsehoods. To strengthen our faith and protect ourselves from falsehoods, we need to spend time in God’s Word every day.

If you do not spend time reading your Bible every day, think of things you can cut from your schedule to make time for God. If you faithfully spend time in the Word, challenge yourself to spend even more time with God.