How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?

Devotion based on 1 Thessalonians 3:9

Have you ever waited excitedly for someone’s arrival? Maybe your spouse who was away on a trip. A son or daughter or grandchild that you have not seen for far too long. A friend separated from you over the years. But now the time has come, and they will arrive any moment. You feel joy. Excitement. Expectation.

When the apostle Paul wrote the words of today’s Bible passage, he was writing to a group of people he had only met briefly. Persecution forced him to move on from their city. But an amazing thing happened. The gospel changed hearts. People came to faith. Paul could have been tempted to pat himself on the back for the great work he accomplished in a short amount of time. Instead, he thanked God. While the gospel had brought joy to these new believers, Paul received joy in return for their faith. And he thanked God for it.

There is much excitement in our world as Christmas approaches. And much of that excitement also has little or nothing to do with the arrival of the Savior. Let Paul’s words be our guide this time of year: “How can we thank God enough?”

The answer to that is, we can’t. Not really. How can we truly thank God enough for sending us a Savior? For bringing us the joy of forgiveness? The hope of eternal life? For a Son born to take on our sins so that he can save us? No, we can’t ever thank God enough.

But what we can do, is take some time to thank God for all the joy we have as we prepare our hearts for the birth of the Christ.

Prayer: