To Encourage You

1 Thessalonians 1:9 “You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.”

Marks of true belief: Paul is telling us about them as he writes to the believers at Thessalonica in the verse above. He tells us a whole series of things about them that identified them as those who are true followers of Christ. They weren’t hypocrites or impostors. They were the real thing.

One of those characteristics that marked them – and likewise will mark any believer, is that they had had a great turning point in their lives. They were headed in one direction before they believed, but now they had completely turned around and were headed in another direction. This was part of Paul’s message everywhere he preached the gospel. He urged men and women everywhere “that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance” (Acts 26:20). We see in this verse the close link between the words “repent” which means to change one’s mind about something, and “turn,” which is, as a result of that changed mind, a changed orientation in a person’s life. It’s a spiritual “turning around” and heading in the opposite direction from where one was once heading. In particular it’s a turning away from idols to serve them, and rather turning to God to now serve Him.

Jesus put it this way regarding one such idol, money. “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Notice His words – you will either hate money and love God or the other way around. You will either be devoted to God and despise money, or vice versa. You can’t have it both ways. In fact, a true lover of Christ will not share that love with anything else – not money, not the things money can buy, no hobby, no friendships, no secret sin, nothing. That’s the struggle any person will find themselves in whenever they consider becoming a believer. It’s like a Russian teenager said to me some years ago during a short-term mission trip to that country. He asked me this: “What did your family do when you became a Christian? What did your friends do?” I could see the wheels turning in his mind as he contemplated what he could lose if he turned to Christ and gave the Lord his life. He was “counting the cost,” which is exactly what Jesus said was necessary for anyone to follow Him (Matthew 6:24-34).

Salvation: it’s a free gift, but it’s a costly gift, for it always involves a great turning point, a willingness to leave anything that would keep us from receiving that gift. So, have you ever had such a turning to God in your own life? If not, then you are probably not a believer, for it is repentance, a change of mind, and turning, a change in the entire orientation of one’s life, that marks those who follow Christ. You see, believers aren’t headed in the way of the world, which in the end is towards destruction. That way is called the “broad way” and, unfortunately, most people are on it. No, the way of Jesus is “the narrow way that leads to life” and there are very few that find it. And one of the reasons is the crisis point of turning to move against the tide. But as Peter said about following Jesus when the Lord asked Him if he intended to turn away from Him as so many others had: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). And that’s the attitude of a true believer – a true turning to Christ and away from anything else that competes with Him for our allegiance. It’s the one and only way of life.