September 5 | 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

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DAILY READING

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11

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REFLECTION

Who Are You Building Up

By David Thompson

As I sit here writing another devotional, it struck me that this is not just any devotional. No, it is the basis of all our numerous communities. And it will be the only way you can have a successful Christian society. All of these communities have some things in common:

These communities foremost desire is to base their existence on Christ. Especially if they want to change lives for everlasting everness (my new word).

t reminds me of a gentleman who visited and ultimately joined our congregation. One day, George (not his real name) came up to me quite agitated and announced that he could find more loving fellowship at the local Moose Lodge than at our church. At first I was defensive and tried to quell the situation, so I could continue teaching the adult Sunday School class I had been assigned. However, that Sunday afternoon and night I could not shake the possible ill guided correctness of his statement. He was illiterate and had threatened me earlier in the quarter to never call on him to read, and if I did, it would be the last time I would see him. He had other interesting negative beliefs early on that made me curl my toes in my shoes as I tried to see where he was coming from and think of ways that the Moose Club with their alcohol, pool tables and course language and jokes. Then it came to me. The difference between any community is what they base their community on. If Christ is not the key stone in the building of every Christian community then George was correct. You see George was not a Christian during our early conversations, but as the days and the many ways congregants showed love to him and his family there was a change in George's world view. He became a Christian ultimately and those in the church spent a great deal of time lifting Christ up in George's presence. It is not just inviting him and his family to dinner out, we reached into their family in many Christlike ways. Example: I drove him to the hospital for a kidney stone procedure in Indianapolis when his car wouldn't work well enough to make the 160 mile trip. It was a blessed time to watch this family and especially George grow.

You know, Christ must be the center of all our communal relationships, whether it is your wife sleeping 10 feet from me as I type this or it is being on a mission or work team sent out to do good work. Psalm 127:1 says it well, "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." We all know these things to be true, now let's put actions to our words.

PRAYER

Lord, help us to be there when those young in their faith or perhaps not given you a try. It is so easy to be too busy to stop and show someone what motivated them. We love you, Lord. Help us to show our love to others.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Thompson

I am the administrator of the Daily Worship Blog. My wife, Carla, and I have been attending UALC for seven years at the 9 o'clock service at Mill Run. We have two children, Catherine and Aaron. I have been a Christian for 53 years and am thankful that my Savior has given me two spiritual gifts that have carried me both spiritually and vocationally all my life: they are teaching and administration. I look forward to spending many years here at UALC to serve my Lord and Savior.