2 Thessalonians 1 – 3

Verse 1:5 is conflicting to much of the Gospel:

Your sufferings prove that God’s judgment is right! The result: your sufferings have made you worthy—worthy of the kingdom of God, which is the very reason why you are suffering in the first place! 

Think about how often we are talked to about how peaceful our lives will be trusting in Jesus. Yes it’s peaceful, but we interpret that as “easy”. God never said “easy” but peace can be obtained through any suffering. I don’t think we need to seek suffering, but life provides plenty of opportunities without us seeking it.

Verse 1:9 talks about not happens if we reject the gift of salvation:

And what’s to become of them? They’ll pay for what they’ve done; their punishment will be eternal destruction. And what’s worse? They’ll be banished from the Lord’s presence and glorious power.

We always think of the evil ones in the world will like in torment, suffering in hell. Often I wonder if the lake of fire is hell, but often I wonder if it’s a place where our souls end. “Eternal destruction” may be final and not eternal torment. Think about it this way, we have a choice to live eternally with God through the blood of Jesus or never exist again. Conservation of energy takes us from spirit to heat and poof we are gone, eternally.

Verse 2:9 is very critical to remember:

Still the rebellious one arrives with all sorts of power, performing signs and fake miracles sanctioned by Satan;

Satan will not reveal himself as Baphomet, the ugly goat man considered his image, but rather “like” Jesus in semi glory fooling many. He will have power, he will perform signs and wonders since that will be the easiest way to seduce mankind. Be ever vigilant and test any potential “savior”. We are told many will come in the name of Jesus to fool us.

I had to touch on verse 3:11 since often I feel like this:

 You see, we are hearing that some folks in the community are out of step with our teaching; they are idle, not working, but really busy doing nothing—and yet still expect to be fed!

We live in a society where comics will write books on how to look busy doing nothing. Often times I get sucked into too much stuff that seems important and needing action but is really just wasting time. I use to be hooked on YouTube videos on the Illuminati and conspiracies. Sure it’s important to be aware, but often we desire so much knowledge we end up doing nothing with that knowledge because we are too busy collecting knowledge. Make sense?

I think of philosophers as the epitome of this idea. They spend time talking about and studying the ills of society doing nothing to correct it. Sure they may create a YouTube video explaining what is wrong and how bad we are for doing it, but actually getting into the trenches and doing the work is not part of their game. No their work is study and being busy while doing nothing.