Devotion 10.16.26

1 Thessalonians 1

"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. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."

I've written daily pieces since I was in my job as Director of Elementary Schools in Galena Park. One was called "John Deere Moment" which was about the eyes of a boy fascinated with John Deere tractors and implements. John Deere Green and Yellow were a great combination and the lens our young lad looked at the world through as I reminisced about the days of my family on the prairies of Minnesota farming and took it to life in general. 

It then became "Baseball Moments" since baseball was a part of my life growing up and living in a city with a professional baseball team (Houston) who had done little up until I began writing that. I wrote about the greats in baseball, many of them Yankees and Dodgers (sorry to hear of your loss this morning Jerry K - as they say in baseball - there is always next year).

I quit writing for about a month on our "Intranet" as it was called at the time. One day, a painter and his sidekick, a guy called Bevo and his helper Neil came by. "Hey, where are your 'writings' at?" I said, "Which writings?" "The ones you do every morning. The guys in the shop sure like those."

That told me one thing: I had an audience of some kind somewhere in this world I hadn't realized. Neil said, "Yeah, we can't wait to read them in the mornings." (Ego swells) As with any ego swelling, a few days later, a guy from technology told me, "You need to call those things you write 'Baldner-dash." God gives and God takes away, but when I left Galena Park, in the early days of the internet, a former student of mine developed a jpeg graphic for a website titled "Baldnerdash - Quite Possibly the Center of the Universe." I picked up where I left off and got readers in the numbers of 10s who read daily, or at least clicked on the link to swell my numbers to 15 each day.

Do you have a point to all of this David, or is this just Friday ramblings? Yes, I suppose I do. Paul is complimenting the church in Thessalonica for finding its voice in the midst of turmoil. How did they find their voice? By becoming imitators of some great teachers, like Paul (and others), by being open to learning and by following the teachings of Christ himself. The Houston Chronicle, at that time a large paper with a large circulation, had some great writers too whom I read daily (hard copy only back in the day), so when it came time to write, I had people I could imitate.

Imitation is a form of flattery, and Paul is thankful for the Thessalonians for being open to and willing to allow the Spirit to guide them. These people were headed in a direction of pagan worship and idols, but God took that passion and used it by turning them toward him. Paul has seen it, and followed up and heard about it. Paul is not astonished, but he is affirming the quality of their imitation and eventual finding of their own voice.

What about you and me? Are you imitating someone in Hopes of finding your own voice or are you using your voice teaching someone currently the path to faith in Christ? Children are imitators as are those who look up to each of you and you may or may not know it.

Pray that awareness of being followed and imitated is paying dividends in terms of faith life, known and unknown. Pray that your mentorship of someone, known or unknown, leads them to find their own voice in Christ to lead others in the way you lead them. Pray that God use you, known and unknown, to lead others to Christ through your daily walk.

In Christ, Amen.