Devotion for Today: 03 October 2007 Devotion for Today "Abounding Charity" 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2

03 October 2007 Devotion for Today  "Abounding Charity" 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2

On Saturday I spent the day with my two boys on a class trip to

Nuremberg.  Early in the morning we boarded the gleaming white Inter

City Express train at the Hanau Hauptbahnhof and within moments we were

speeding along the electrified track across the state border into

Bavaria.  After an hour the train stopped at Wuerzburg.  From the

windows we could see the majestic white fortress on top of the mountain

over looking the city.  We continued on through the Bavarian countryside

to the ancient city of Nuremberg.  Across the street from the station

were the old, medieval walls and watchtowers of the city, followed by

narrow, cobblestone streets and half-timbered buildings.  Eventually

John and Jared and I arrived at the old bridge in the center of the

city.  We purchased ice cream cones and were content to rest and look

over the bridge to watch the ducks feeding in the river below.  Jared

enjoyed feeding them pieces of his ice cream cone.  Especially amusing

was to watch a baby duckling trying to get into the feeding frenzy

that was going on.  As much as Jared tried, he could not throw a piece

of his waffle cone in the right spot where the baby could get it.  Each

time that the piece landed in the water near where the duckling could

manage, a big duck would swim over and grab it.  The moments were a

bit frustrating to both Jared and the duckling until finally, the

entire waffle ice cream cone had been consumed by the larger ducks.

"Its just not fair!" he said, "How is the baby duck going to

be able to grow if the others won't let him eat anything?"  We talked

about that and how life is often like that.  But I told him that the

big ducks were once baby ducks, too, and that God will take care of

them and give them what they need.  "Maybe what they want is a big

piece of the cone, but what they really need is the smaller, more

nutricious food God provided for them in the water that we cannot see.

Even so, he will just have to learn to fight for the bigger pieces if

he wants them badly enough."

I thought also about the old city that we were in.  It had seen its

share of hardship in its nearly one thousand year history.  The need

for its walls underscored the battles it had seen.  But the walls

could not keep out the allied bombs that devastated most of the city

in World War II.  Yet, after all of this, the city is a thriving

metropolis of commerce and industry.

The Apostle Paul begins his second letter to the Thessalonians- a

church that had been suffering great turmoil and persecution.  Yet the

resilience that they demonstrated reflects the temperence and

patience that they learned through hard times.  What was most evident

about this church was its love and acts of charity toward one another.

"We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet,

because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every

one of you all toward each other aboundeth." (v.3)

We grow no greater in our relationship with God than when we are

reaching out in love to those who need our help.  And when we grow

toward God in grace and knowledge and faith, we can grow that much

more toward our brother in love.  And when that kind of relationship

grows during difficult times, it only goes to show others how real

a relationship with Jesus Christ can be.  It enables us to look out

into the future with hope.

Have a blessed day.

(From 01 May 2001 )

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@embarqmail.com

jcrussell@liberty.edu

Devotion for Today