For the majority of us it is difficult to picture the suffering that the early Church had to endure. Even more so if we turn a blind eye to the persecution being experienced across our world today. And yet we see a beautiful and positive attitude flowing through the believers at the time and I have personally witnessed this throughout the Persecuted World today.
“You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” (1 Thessalonians 1 v 6-7)
What the enemy throws at the suffering Church does not accomplish its intention. The response was and is difficult to describe. There was a response of joy. It would seem that within the gospel message there was a baton of response that was also passed on; that is the joy of the Holy Spirit. It defies all explanation. How Christians can find joy in the midst of such difficulty. But they do and it is the work of the Holy Spirit within us.
Paul shows us that there is a spiritual reproduction with the gospel. What they received they have passed on to the Thessalonians and Thessalonica has become a model for the Churches throughout Greece.
We too are in that place of passing on what we have received. Of course we don’t just copy man and that is why Paul said ‘and of the Lord’.
Almost 30 years ago I wore a bracelet, WWJD. What would Jesus do? It was a campaign to encourage us all to copy Christ.
As you begin a new day in whatever circumstance of your life there is an opportunity to imitate Him.
From the temptations of the desert to the teaching of disciples; to working out the will of your Father to following its cause; we have an opportunity to look like Him. And as we do we know others are looking at our lives and watching how we respond and react.
Missions Paul 