“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
1 Thessalonians 2:13

Have you ever stopped and taken time to wonder what it will be like when we finally get to see Jesus face-to-face? I often wonder, I really do. I wonder will we be taken by His presence and want to worship Him or perhaps will we just want to thank Him for all His goodness, His grace, His mercy and His love, among the many other great things that He has done for us?

Worshiping the Lord and giving thanks are virtuous practices. Both are outward expressions toward a loving and gracious God who deserves our affection, our attention and our gratitude. However, both are unnatural practices in the sense that they don’t come to us instinctively, mainly because of our carnality. We have to put them into practice and make them a daily and consistent part of how we live our lives.

The question that we face then becomes why wait for eternity in heaven to start worshipping and thanking God when you can start them now in the present?  1 Thessalonians 2:13 is a great reminder to remember God consistently and to accept His Word as what it really is intended to be, words poured out from the very heart of God. The Scripture in 1 Thessalonians says “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (ESV)

All we have to do is look around in order to see that there is so much to be thankful for in our day-to-day circumstances. So let us not be afraid to start the practice of recognizing that everything comes from God and can be considered a gift. James 1:17 says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (ESV)

While keeping this in mind, God always works something for the greater good and even out of our presumable bad circumstances. The plan He has for us always considers His kingdom and eternity. If we belong to His Kingdom, then we can rest while being assured that He has gone before us and has worked on our behalf to cause good to come from our less than desirable circumstances. This is most certainly reassuring because it helps those of us who tend to worry, not to worry, and therefore, we begin to let an all knowing God move and work on our behalf.