2 Thessalonians 1:11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your ever desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.
With modern GPS devices we have little excuse for getting lost when we travel. If we know our destination, most of the time, the GPS mapping will get us to where we are supposed to go, along as there aren’t too many tall buildings and our battery doesn’t give out. But this presupposes we know where we are going! And too often in life, we don’t have a clear idea where that is.
If only there was a GPS for life? So many people seem to get lost along the way, or never begin the journey. They aimlessly travel through their years without any sense of direction, other than the shiny objects that the world can offer.
But there is more to life than the latest shiny object. Life is more than what we accumulate and our status on instagram. There are some things that matter more than others.
I find such truth in Paul’s prayers that he includes in his letters. They give us a glimpse of what he saw as most important in life, and today’s text is no exception. We read that Paul’s constant prayer for these believers was that they would be worthy of their calling in Christ Jesus. But what is that calling? And what does it mean to be worthy?
We saw a good example of people making a judgment about worthiness with our previous President. Many people said, because of his tweets, that his public persona wasn’t worthy of the office of the President of the United States. He lacked the traditional acceptable behavior that had become the hallmark of that great office. Of course these were the people who said he had stolen the election from Hillary Clinton and then tried to impeach him repeatedly.
Being worthy has to do with the perceived value or status of a particular object or position that is sought after or achieved. Baseball Hall of Fame membership. America’s Got Talent Winner. MotorTrend Car of the Year. Olympic Gold Metal Winner. #1 Best Seller. Each of these has a value, a worth, that is sought after. There are standards that must be met and exceeded in order to posses these titles. Very few ever make the cut.
Paul prays that these believers would be worthy of God’s calling. God’s calling has standards that must be met. We only meet those standards when we have admitted our sinful failings and received His forgiveness. But our journey doesn’t stop there.
We need God’s power to thoroughly transform us. We may have the desire for goodness and deeds that grow out of our faith, but we are weak. We need the power of God in order to complete these desires through the actions we do. We need Him. Without Him, we fail.
But with Him working in and through us, He can bring to completion His will. He is the One who will fill up our desires for His goodness, His character working out in this life through us. It will be as if He occupies our shoes in those moments. He controls our desires and our actions. We yield to His impulses, allowing the best of humanity to flow through us.
I hope this is your prayer today. We need Him active in us, changing our desires into His desires, driving us toward His goodness. Then our actions will reflect Him and the world will see just how great our God really is.
The Arnold Journey 