Too Good Not To Share - December 5

Read 1 Thessalonians 1:8

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but

your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

Reflect

When you receive an amazing gift, do you usually want to share it with others or hoard it for yourself?

Sometimes, when we know we have been given a good thing, our impulse is to hoard it or hide it. Maybe it’s because we’re selfish or maybe we are just afraid of running out and not having enough for ourselves. But when it comes to the gift of the Gospel, we simply cannot keep it all to ourselves. The Good News of the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ is simply too good not to share!

In today’s verse, we see that the Thessalonian believers understood that the message they had accepted from Paul, Silas, and Timothy was too good to keep to themselves. In fact, as Paul was listing reasons why he knew the Thessalonians were chosen by God and that their salvation was genuine, their eagerness to share the Good News was listed as evidence!

Remember, Thessalonica was an important hub city in the Roman province of Macedonia. This was not a remote village or an isolated island. It was located along a major east/west highway, the Egnatian Way. It was also a port city. Because it was bustling with business and travel, it was the perfect set-up for the transmission of the Gospel and it appears that the new believers of Thessalonica took full advantage of their geographical resources.

Paul said that God’s word “sounded forth” from them. As a church, they weren’t timid or shy in sharing the Gospel—they were blasting it out like a trumpet! Because of their boldness, they had a significant impact on their entire province, Macedonia, and on the province just south of them, Achaia. Macedonia and Achaia together make up modern-day Greece, so basically, the Thessalonian church made sure all of Greece heard the Word. Paul and his company discovered that the newfound faith of the Thessalonians was so well-known in the region they didn’t even have to attest to it anymore. It was common knowledge!

The faithfulness and obedience of the believers in Thessalonica to boldly proclaim the Gospel should be motivating and inspiring to us even today. We have the same command and calling from God. It is still our Great Commission. Jesus said to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Paul charged Timothy: “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). We always need to be ready to preach the word as well. The gift of salvation that we have been given through Jesus Christ is too good not to share! May the word of God sound forth from us today and every day!

Respond

Lord, make me like Thessalonian believers. Use me to boldly proclaim Your Word and share the truth of Your Gospel far and wide. May my faith in God be common knowledge—not a surprise to anyone who knows me, but apparent in everything I say and do. Amen.

Reveal

Don’t hoard or hide your faith in God. Boldly blast the Good News out to those around you today.