High Value

1 Thessalonians 3:6-10 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.
 
THIS passage first allows us a glimpse into Paul’s character. His words teach us that this anointed apostle and passionate teacher of God’s gospel experienced the many emotions we all face. He was worried the Thessalonians had lost their faith. A great weight was lifted from Paul’s anxious heart: For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. Thessalonica’s firm faith is a great encouragement to the three evangelists. They can live and minister more effectively when worry and fear does not burden their minds. As Paul, Silas and Timothy continued their work in distress and persecution, there would be joy in their hearts because this one church remained safe.
    This reveals a second lesson from this passage: Each church is highly valuable in God’s Kingdom. As we walk into worship each Sunday or drive by a church, do we ever consider how much that church cost?  This is not a cost to build it but the cost for it to be a church. Consider this: The Son of God paid for each Christ-centered church with his life. The church is then built on the foundation of the apostles’ teaching. Each apostle suffered physically and emotionally. Nearly all died terrible deaths. In addition, the church today bears the legacy of many martyrs throughout time. Faithful servants stood firmly on God’s Word when governments, cultures and the ruling “church” tried to silence the gospel. Many faithful saints have endured great physical and emotional persecution. Many more are suffering terribly today because they are willing to pay the cost of a true faith. Each church begins and continues to exist only if its members are willing to bear the cost required to continue a Jesus-centered ministry.
    This is why we must pray most earnestly for the church universal and the church locally. The priceless seed of Jesus’ gospel had been planted and begun to grow. Each step of planting and growing requires a great price in faith, gifts, time and sacrifice. Christians, we must hold the church in high esteem. The Father paid for it with his Son. His church must be of the highest value to us.