1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you.2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.REFLECTIONSWritten by Stephen SheadToday we are beginning another series of devotions written by different people from across our congregations. We’ll work through the first letter to the church in Thessalonica – although in these first few verses, it feels like we’re still in our series on prayer! In verse 2, it’s clear that knowing Jesus had turned Paul, Silas and Timothy into people who lived prayerfully. They especially worked hard to pray constantly for their brothers and sisters in Christ.Reading verse 3, the thing that strikes me is how hard the Thessalonian Christians were working to live out their faith in Christ – to obey him and persevere to the end.But their efforts weren’t out of fear or thinking that they had to be good enough to make it into heaven. They came from the faith, love and hope they had received from God through Christ.We know that salvation is by grace alone, not by works. But I wonder if sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that, because salvation is by grace, obeying God should be easy and effortless. That’s not the case at all! Serving Jesus is true freedom, and his burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). But knowing Jesus should motivate us to “make every effort” to live holy lives (Hebrews 12:14). And until Jesus returns, we are called to struggle and work hard to love him – that’s God’s way of building up our spiritual muscles to grow us in Christ-centred maturity.But when you feel your strength is failing, remember that Jesus really is coming back to save us! Having that sure and certain “hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 3) is what will help you to endure to the end.I know that one of my besetting sins is that I don’t like having to work hard at obeying God. Pray with me that God will help you learn to strive and persevere in faith, love and hope. But also follow the example of Paul and his friends in verse 2: spend time today thanking God for your brothers and sisters at St Barnabas, and asking God on their behalf.About the AuthorStephen is our senior minister.