Just Do It

2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.  

-1 Thessalonians 1:2-5

One of the catch phrases Nike used in their past commercials was a saying “Just Do It”. The implication was that if you purchased their products, then all you had to do to be successful in what ever the product was related to was just make the purchase, put on what ever you bought, and got out and “Just Do It”. Easy right? Not so much. 

In order to be successful in anything in life, you have to believe in what you're doing, faithfully commit to it, and never give up when things get hard. In this passage, we see Paul encouraging the church in Thessalonica in their work for the kingdom. Paul lovingly reminds them of how their faith, love, and hope are a few of the things that are inspiring them as they do Gods work.

Then Paul reminds them that they were “chosen” by God…so is that kind of like being sponsored by Nike? Not quite. It's way better! Paul reminds them that by being chosen by God means they also have the Holy Spirit on their team and when you have the Holy Spirit on your team, you can and will do great things! 

So, when you're doing life this week and you're looking for ways to be intentionally emptying your bucket in relationships, remember that you were chosen by God, He has equipped you with tools, and on top of all that you have the Holy Spirit! That's way more than an empty catch phrase that says “just do it”.

- Jerry Stout