05/08/2026
Do we rejoice in the Lord all day long? If so, we most certainly must be praying without ceasing. If this describes us then we should also be giving thanks for all that the Lord provides, and does, for us as our day proceeds. All three of these things, Rejoicing, Praying, and Giving Thanks, are all contained in a single sentence as Paul writes to the Thessalonians. They are joined for a reason, and are meant to lift us up in spirit... then unite us with the words Always, Without Ceasing, and All Circumstances, to show us the degree of their importance.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
This is one of the richest sentences in the Bible, and is foundational to our life of faith. It speaks to a never ending and never fading obsession in our relationship with God. It ties perfectly to the Greatest Commandment as taught by Jesus... are you this focused and obsessed with the love you have for God?
“"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Matthew 22:36-37 ESV
I am an older man who grew up in the early 1950s at a time when life was much different than today, there were only a few stations on television (when we had a TV), no video games, people often had to share a telephone line with their neighbors (party lines), and money was so tight that we didn’t have the toys, vacations, and other niceties that are commonplace in western society today. If a child lived like this today they would be considered poor, underprivileged, or, in the minds of today’s children, abused. Yet I will tell you that it was quite the contrary, and that it forced us to seek out and play with other children in the neighborhood, read and imagine more, participate in tighter families, and to see the world around us with our own eyes... not on a big screen television nor through the eyes of a cinematographer. And, these examples only brush the surface of the benefits, because above all else it rooted us in our faith, and made it central and all important to our family, and daily lives.
Perhaps today it is the latest video game, or the new “have to have” app on our phone, but in my childhood the boys in my neighborhood would become obsessed with a sport, or maybe the fantasy contained in a book like “Treasure Island.” For me it was the outdoors. I thought about it 24 hours a day, and all year long. I loved to camp, fish, hunt, and hike! To the chagrin of my teachers, I would often sit in school and stare out the window as I daydreamed of an upcoming camping trip or an afternoon adventure to a local pond. Later, girls and fast cars would dethrone the outdoors as my number one obsession, but for now it was outdoors, and it was all I could think about. This is the kind of obsession that the Great Commandment speaks of... one that is the absolute focus of our life, and all that we dream of. It is an unrivaled passion for God that has no competition for one’s attention. It is the love that overshadows all else, and that we can’t take our minds off... even to the detriment of all else.
This is the essence of the one sentence that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians; it is the encapsulation of volumes of thought, and their reduction into a single sentence... a few amazing words. It speaks to us of what children know intuitively... how to lose oneself in something. But, for some reason, the translators broke this single thought into three verses. It is as if they became teaching points, or maybe so that prayer could be singled out, yet regardless, we are all familiar with the second verse, while the first and last verses have been largely overlooked. Here is the verse that is quoted so often...
“pray without ceasing,”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV
Don’t get me wrong, I love this verse, and it is more than important to me. I have written many, many, devotional messages regarding prayer, and it is all important to me, and to my calling, but if we concentrate too completely on it as a tool of faith we are apt to lose the first point…joy...
“Rejoice always,”
1 Thessalonians 5:16 ESV
And we will lose the offering of thanks associated with the third point...
“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV
Praying alone is not the complete thought. In fact, none of these things alone is enough. Paul joins them together, and then he gives up the treasure; the driving motivation in them; the part that I have held close to my vest as I have been writing today... “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” The Crown Jewel in this sentence is that God wills us to have more than just joy, prayer, or to give him thanks... He wants us to experience them as one sentence, one thought, one obsession, one love. All of this is meant to lead us once more to the Greatest Commandment...
“"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Matthew 22:36-37 ESV
So, today I ask that we become like little boys and girls again. I ask that we take our faith and make it our joy, and the object of our rejoicing. I ask that we make prayer the daydream we participate in as we look longingly out the window towards heaven, and I want us to be thankful all day long for every moment and every blessing in our relationship with God. This is His will for us through Christ Jesus, and this is the essence of the child… that God would desire to reside in us. One sentence, one thought, one obsession, one Great Commandment! Can you think of anything more perfect?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the one sentence you have placed before me today. I rejoice in you Holy Father, and I relish the constant prayer that we maintain in everything, and at all times. In this I know that I reside in your will for me because I see it as an example to me in Jesus Christ, and know that it is your desire and will for me as well. I love you Father with all my heart, soul, and mind. In this my love, I rejoice, speaking all day long to you, and giving thanks to you always for your unceasing provision and blessing. Help me Merciful Father to never separate my practice of faith and religion from the joy I find in you, and our never-ending prayer. My intention Gracious Father is to never neglect my thanks to you for all you are to me, and for the love you lavish upon me. Bring out the child in me Father, and may my fascination in you never fade, and my love for you endure forever. You are my God and the sole focus of my life... Holy, Holy, Holy, are you... my singularity of thought, love, and desire.
“And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:2-3 ESV
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Amen!
Rich Forbes