A WORD FOR TODAY, January 30, 2026
Peggy Hoppes
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Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, January 30, 2026
“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you. Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophesies. Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.”1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, WEB
I can’t help but wonder what Paul was thinking when he wrote this guide of faithful and faith-filled living suggestions. “Rejoice always.” How is that possible? We have good times and we have bad times. Even Jesus wept; it is foolish and unhealthy to ignore those feelings which are opposite of joy. Sorrow is a natural part of life and can offer healing and growth.
“Pray without ceasing.” Paul must not have had a day job. How can we spend every minute of every day in prayer? Most of us have trouble coming up with five minutes a day to set aside to talk with our Father in heaven. Oh, many of us will pray while we are doing other things: I like to pray while I’m driving and doing the dishes. But is it enough to chit chat with God while we are doing other things? Don’t we get distracted by the other drivers on the road or that stubborn greasy stain on our pot?
“In everything give thanks.” Everything? Should I give thanks when I get a difficult health diagnosis or the traffic makes me late for a meeting? How about when my checking account is near zero and I still have bills to pay? Should I be thankful when the bitter cold causes damage to my home or a drunk hits my car? How can I be thankful when I am afraid of what tomorrow holds?
“Don’t quench the Spirit,” Paul says. But do we really know when the Spirit is talking? Churches are constantly dealing with the questions we face living in today’s world. Where do we go from here? Are those who want change actually speaking for the Spirit? Or is the Spirit speaking through those who believe that we should hold to traditional values? Is God speaking through that dirty, smelly stranger on the street corner preaching a message of repentance? Or is He speaking through the protesters who are marching on City Hall? Which message does He want us to hear? Should we allow those other voices continue to cause confusion in an already chaotic world?
“Don’t despise prophesies.” I have to admit that I find this one especially difficult because I have experienced prophets who prophesy messages that fall far from God’s good and perfect word, and they love this text. Anyone who questions the authority of their words is labeled as an unbeliever and destined for hell. This has become a difficult subject because a very popular and well-known “prophet” has been found to be a false prophet and a sexual predator. His partners in ministry have to justify their own actions. Who do we trust? Whose ministries and prophecies should we despise? Paul says to “prove all things” and yet this is often difficult. How do we prove faith? How do we prove the things of faith when there is so much in the world that seemingly disproves everything we believe?
“Hold firmly that which is good.” This sounds easy, and yet how often do we lose touch with the things that are really good? Are we really paying attention? We are spending so much of our time busy with our daily lives that we forget to spend time in scriptures study, prayer, and thanksgiving. We are so worried about whether or not we have checked everything off our to-do list that we miss the opportunities to worship God in word and deed.
“Abstain from every form of evil.” This makes sense, and we try. But how many of us can honestly say that we can abstain from every form of evil, even for a day? We learn in Luther’s Small Catechism that every commandment is not only a message of what not to do, but what we should do to keep our neighbor from suffering. In other words, it is not enough to obey the “shall nots.” We are expected to also do the things that will make life better for our neighbor. We should not murder or endanger or harm our neighbors but instead help and support our neighbors in all life’s needs. To keep food from the hungry is to do them harm.
Paul’s words are difficult, much harder than we realize, but Paul also offers a comfort with his encouragement that God gives us everything we need to do these things. As a matter of fact, He does it in, with, and through us. We cannot uphold all these expectations on our own. We can’t rejoice always. We can’t pray without ceasing. We can’t, or don’t, give thanks in all circumstances. It is beyond our ability. We will doubt what we hear, and we should question every word, until we are sure that it comes from God. Our grasp is tenuous, and no matter how hard we try we are sinners who will let go of what is good and fall into that which is evil. But through it all, the God who calls us is faithful and He will be with us. He will help us through. He will help us to rejoice, pray, give thanks, listen, accept, grasp and abstain. And He will forgive us when we fail and give us another chance to live faithfully according to His Word.
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