“For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. ” 1st Thessalonians 1:9-10

The faithful and active discipleship of the young saints at Thessalonica presented a clear picture of how profoundly they responded to the preaching of the gospel by the Apostle Paul. The gospel made a very dramatic change in every aspect of their lives!

Does the gospel still have this effect on the children of God today? There is nothing in the Bible that says that anything should be different. So, if the gospel is the same, what is different? Why do we not see such radical changes today? Maybe we do, but are the changes so large and widespread as to cause an uproar in our community?

Perhaps it is because we do not actively consider that we have been saved “from the wrath to come.”

The only true and faithful good works are those done in thankfulness for the sovereign grace of God. Yet, we see so many times that it is those who believe in grace who feel little or no need for radical change in their lives!

Our modern society has so drastically changed the definition of Christian that a person who calls himself a disciple today would be an outsider in the first century church. We think that our sins are not as bad as “those idol worshippers” in Thessalonica. Do we not realize that ANYTHING we put before God is an idol to us? Anything we spend more time, money, study, and passion on than God and His church is an idol.

Wouldn’t it be amazing if the true American Idol in the lives of God’s children was Jesus Christ?