1 Thessalonians 2:17- 3:5

As an adult, I can do what I want to! That is the truth, but it is not the whole truth. When we become adults we do accept the responsibility of making our life choices. However, those choices are not without limitations, and they are not without consequences. Paul provides illustrations of this in these verses.

No matter how much Paul longed to go to Thessalonica, he could not. He was hindered by Satan, no matter what his choice. The Lord can always make the impossible, possible, but often He does not. When he could not do what he wanted to do, Paul had another choice to make. He could continue trying to do the impossible, he could accept it and give up, or he could find a workaround.

Paul found a way around what he could not do; he asked Timothy to do it for him. Paul did not write that Timothy wanted to go to Thessalonica, he wrote that he sent Timothy. Timothy was an adult, and could have chosen not to go. Timothy went because he loved the people at Thessalonica, he loved Paul, and he was a co-worker with Paul in the ministry of spreading the gospel.

Paul was desperate to contact the church at Thessalonica because he was fearful that under persecution they had given in to temptation; even as Christians they were free to choose unfaithfulness. However, they were not free to choose the consequences of unfaithfulness. If they had given in to temptation, the consequences would have been devastating for them and would have made all of Paul’s labor with them in vain.

Adults can do what they want, and God allows Christians the same freedom. That freedom comes with responsibility. We want to do what is right, and with God’s help we can. We must allow love and righteousness to guide our choices, and always be aware that choices have consequences for us and others. Having a choice does not make Christians different, how we choose does.