What to Do While We Wait

Before you start todays devotional, ask the Lord to use it to grow you up in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Certain axioms must be accepted as fact without proof. Here’s one: Some things cannot be proven to be true.

When Paul writes to the Thessalonians, he says, “We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that He has chosen you” (see v. 4). Paul doesn’t try to argue or prove the doctrine of election; he simply states it as a fact. This is the perspective from God’s side of the picture.

Let’s acknowledge together that we live in a universe created by God and which exists for His glory. He is God, and beside Him there is none other. He doesn’t look to anybody for advice. He directs it for His own purpose.

Something else needs to be said: God is no tyrant of election. No one is chosen to be saved against his will, and no one is rejected against his will. God is right in all that He does. (See Romans 9:14.)

When we grasp the immensity of what Paul said to the Thessalonian believers (and as believers, to us), "We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that He has chosen you,” we should fall on our faces before Him and thank Him that He has brought us into existence and given us the opportunity as a free moral agent to choose Him.

When Paul and the other apostles came to the Thessalonians, everyone knew they were just men, just weak human beings with lips and tongues of clay. All we could do was say words, but we gave out the Word of God. And the Word of God came to you, not in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit. Something amazing happens when we give out the Word of God. As far as the world is concerned, all we’re doing is speaking words, but when the Spirit of God takes those words and uses them, they become powerful! We can give out the Word of God with confidence that the Spirit of God will make it real to you. He can and will take the Word of God and perform the greatest miracle possible—changing an unbelieving, lost sinner into a child of God!

How does it happen?

First, a person must hear the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Next, the Holy Spirit transforms the gospel from mere words to something powerful!

When Paul arrived in Thessalonica, he didn’t tell them about the errors of pagan worship. He preached Christ, and they turned to God from idols on their own. When they turned to God, they automatically turned from idols. That’s repentance.

Take your hand and hold it so your palm faces toward you. Now turn your hand around. Now the back side of your hand now faces you, and the palm of your hand automatically turned away from you. Just so, you cannot turn to Christ Jesus without turning from something—and that is repentance.

When you repent, you turn to Jesus Christ and away from your sin. Recognize first that you are a lost sinner. Tears don’t do any good on their own. Only when we turn to Christ will we turn from our sin. If you haven’t turned from your sin, then you haven’t turned to Christ.

Get the order right. Preach Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world to a world of lost sinners, but preach the message of repentance to the church. After we are saved, we need to get down on our faces before God and repent. Don’t go trying to make an unsaved person on the street repent of their sins. They need to know first that they have a Savior.

1. What does it tell us about God that He not only created the universe (including us), but that He also directs its affairs?

2. Why can we be confident that God’s Word will be used by the Spirit?

3. What lesson can we learn from the Thessalonians about the importance of repentance?

Additional Resources

Listen to Dr. J. Vernon McGee’s complete teachings on 1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 and 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10.