2 Thessalonians 2 Devotion

2 Thessalonians 2

I love Paul’s dual description: the coming of *our Lord Jesus Christ AND *our gathering to Him! We are a communal people. And someday we will commune together with God forever!

However, what if someone convinced you that the Lord had already come? What a reason to give up if Jesus has already come. But he hasn’t come yet!

A sign of maturity is knowing that you can be deceived. To be deceived means someone caused you to believe something that’s not true without you knowing what they did. The mature believer knows this can happen and is therefore very cautious with EVERYBODY that teaches the Bible.

Another sign of maturity is simply knowing what the Bible says in order not to be deceived. Of course, it’s usually not obvious. It’s often a mixture of error and truth which needs mature discernment.

Be the one praying for wisdom. Be the one to question the crowd about that which isn’t the truth. Be the one who knows which hills to die on and which ones that are not worth it.

All that needed to be said but let’s not end there. Notice how Paul addresses them, “beloved by the Lord!” What does it mean to be beloved by the Lord? You are beloved because you were chosen for salvation from the beginning.

Why? That you might “gain the glory of our Lord Jesus.” These are reasons…hopeful reasons to “stand firm and hold to” the truth.

My prayer for you is this: 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. – 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Eternal comfort and good hope in Christ. Let that strengthen your hearts, beloved by the Lord!