The Pastor’s Pulse

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
(2 Thessalonians 3:5 – ESV)

To the love of God – Is that objective or subjective, to the love we get from God or to our loving of God? Are we talking about God's love for you, or your love for God? The answer is probably both. The Greek language provided Paul with a certain ambiguity that resulted in the fullness of the truth. God directs us deeper into His love for you and your love for Him. That’s both objective and subjective. When you look at it in the original language, you can't tell the difference and we think it is because it is both.

To the steadfastness of Christ – It is the same thing here, both subjective and objective, observing the steadfastness or patience shown by Christ, and obtaining the patient waiting for Christ. It is His patience with us, and our patience in Him through endurance. The hope we have is in the temporal sense as well as the eternal, the short term and the long term, the patient waiting (KJV) for the second coming of Christ, and also God establishes us while we are patiently waiting Him in our situations right now. 1 Peter 5:10 – And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Paul is saying that it is his heart that God would give them a growing love and a growing endurance. Living for today with an eye for tomorrow. Colossians 1:4-5 teaches us that faith in Jesus Christ and love for the saints are predicated on the hope we have in heaven. The more we focus on our heavenly destiny the more we will see and experience this fruit now. Such a hope is not to the exclusion of being active on earth, but to motivate us to action on earth. What we love governs the way we live. Hope precedes faith, and faith precedes faithfulness.

God does all this, isn’t that beautiful? The people’s prayers, the pastor’s pulse, and our God’s power all working in and though us. Indeed, may the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©