July 8, 2019

1 Thessalonians 4:1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.

Ever hear the maxim “The good is the enemy of the great”? I googled it and found on goodreads.com/quotes that it is attributed to James C. Collins, an author of books about successful companies. The website quoted him thus: “Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great. We don’t have great schools, principally because we have good schools. We don’t have great government, principally because we have good government. Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.” Would Paul have agreed with this as he “urged” the Thessalonians above, that while they were in fact living obediently, “to do this more and more.” Can you be content in the love of God and still motivated to work daily on being better, more obedient, “to live a holy life”? The Christian life is something we aspire to while at the very same time it is a gift given to us without our deserving of it. We live in that tension, that paradox. How are you being instructed “to live in order to please God”? How could you “do this more and more?”