Thank God and Keep Growing - 3:9-10

I always wanted to be at least 6 feet tall.

My dad’s dad was 6 foot. My mom’s dad was 6’2”. My mom’s brother is 6’4”. My oldest brother is 6’2”.

I thought I had a good chance to make it.

Nope.

Here I am. All 5 feet 10 inches of me.

I was born into this world 5 and a half weeks early.

I was small for my age for most of my life.

I did most of my growing from 12-15 years of age.

And then I stopped.

I never will get to be 6 feet tall.

That’s not what God has for me.

However, spiritually speaking, I have the opportunity to never stop growing.

Spiritually speaking, every single believer has the opportunity to become a giant in spiritual growth.

It is only possible for us to keep on growing as we recognize and accept that we have never arrived.

There is always more growing we can do.

Today we are going to look at 1 Thessalonians 3:9-10. Here’s what it says.

1 Thessalonians 3:9–10 ESV

9 For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, 10 as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

The idea here in verse 9 is that Paul cannot thank God enough for what He has done and is doing in the Thessalonian church.

We could put it this way:

Paul is filled with overwhelming thanksgiving and joy because the Thessalonians are standing firm in their faith.

When we are at our must joyful, we should also be at our most thankful.

Joy means that God is at work in our lives!

Joy means that God is keeping His promises.

Joy means that we can be confident in our future because God is faithful.

Are those not reasons to be thankful?

Paul recognizes here that it is God who has kept the Thessalonians standing firm in their faith.

Paul does not take any credit here.

They are standing fast in the Lord. Not in Paul.

And so, Paul expresses his thanksgiving to God.

How does he express his thanksgiving?

Through prayer.

He says in verse 10 that he prays for them earnestly, night and day.

I don’t believe Paul implies he walked around with eyes closed and head bowed praying for the Thessalonians.

His point is that whenever the Lord brings them to mind, He prays for them.

Knowing that they are faithfully following Jesus doesn’t change Paul’s desire to see them.

He wants to stand face to face with them and help them continue to grow.

This takes us back to what we started with.

I may be done growing physically, but I have not arrived spiritually.

This side of heaven, there is always more growing to do.

Paul wants the see the Thessalonians grow.

He prays for them to grow.

To grow spiritually, we need nourishment.

Our nourishment is found in the Word of God.

1 Peter 2:2 tells us that we need the “pure spiritual milk” to grow.

1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12-13 tell us that as we grow we add to our diet the “solid food.”

We start with the basics and move on from there into the more difficult things of Scripture.

This is how we grow.

However, we do not grow in isolation.

Scripture also tells us to fellowship with other believers (Heb. 10:25), to spend time in prayer (Eph. 6:18), and to use our gifts in service to Christ (Rom. 12:6).

Only when all these things are in place do we have a “balanced diet” that enables us to grow.

Let me take what Paul says in these two verses and put it into one phrase.

We thank God for the growth we have experienced but we also keep on growing.

We have not arrived.

Our growth is not finished.

God has more in store for you and me as we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pe. 3:18).

May God richly bless you as you pursue Him.