01/01/2011 - Four wise pieces of advice

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“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.” (I Thessalonians 5:14)

We’ve already been given the commandments, yet oftentimes we don’t pay due heed to them. In fact, sometimes we don’t even care about what to do concerning them. We live our lives as if the instructions given by the Lord to His servants aren’t meant for us. There are some people who aren’t really serving God even in the clerical ministries. For many of them being “church workers” is like having a worldly job and all they care about is their salary. Poor people! How deceived they are! One day they’ll be called to give account of their comfort and then they’ll hear from the lips of the Lord that they must march towards the world of eternal punishment (Matthew 25:26-30).

Warn those who are unruly – We must warn those who are unruly, the rebellious; yet how can we warn those people if we take part in their group? Any insubordination to the Word of the Lord is a breach in our relationship with Him. Rebellion turned the archangel who had been created to be the cherubim of the Heavenly Guard into the devil who was sentenced to eternal doom. Those who don’t abide by the commandments will experience eternal torment too. Every rebel needs to know that the condemnation they’ll receive for their insane attitudes isn’t worth the profit they make or the pleasure they enjoy.

Comfort the fainthearted – Some of our brethren have grown cold in their faith and they end up losing their cheerfulness, so they need to be comforted in their trials. They might be lost forever without a firm word, some wise counselling or an inspired message. The lack of cheerfulness steals the victory of the warriors of the Lord. That’s why the Most High has high regard for those who convey the message of His Word to them.

Uphold the weak – The lack of nutritious spiritual food makes God’s sheep weak. On top of that, some of them despise what they’re being taught so they also become frail; that’s why our duty is to uphold them. The path the Lord shows them to walk on is often steep and they can’t climb the mountain, so we must take them in our arms, or we need to take a rest once in a while to offer them the right food which will strengthen them. A weak sheep signals that the relationship they have with their shepherd isn’t well. If they refuse the food or if the food is hard for them to swallow, it’s time for us to check on what we’re giving them and present the matter to God in prayer.

Be patient with all – We possess our soul by our patience, says the Lord (Luke 21:19). Be patient with everybody – whether they are the sheep of our fold or someone else’s fold – and even with the lost ones because in doing so those who need to know the power of our God will feel good.

One of the devil’s strategies is to provoke us to wrath. That’s how Moses lost the blessing of presenting Canaan to the Hebrews, though he had guided them for forty years (Deuteronomy 32: 48-52). Don’t make the same mistake!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares