“Feb 23, 2024 - What Do I Love?”

Thursday, February 22, 2024

What Do I Love?

Reading:  2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
    
    Having described the “man of lawlessness” whose “rebellion” will precede Jesus’ return, Paul explains how this man gains such a foothold among people.  “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved”(2 Thess 2:9-10).  Satan is behind his rise and the “lawless one” uses Satan’s tactics:  “false signs” and “wicked deception.”  He lies to and deceives the people about who he is and what his aims are.  This may involve displays of seemingly miraculous acts (“power and false signs and wonders”).  The tragic part is that those who follow him never see through his act because “they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

    Paul then elaborates on these followers:  “Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness”(2 Thess 2:11-12).  As they are deceived by the man of lawlessness, so God “sends them a strong delusion” to allow them to believe his lies and be condemned.  This sounds uncharacteristic of God, yet he is actually giving people what they want, since they have “pleasure in unrighteousness.”  It is similar to how God treats the Gentiles in Romans 1:  “since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind”(Rom 1:28, see also Rom 1:24, 26).  If we are determined not to follow God’s word and believe his truth, God won’t force us but will allow us to walk away from him and pursue our desires.  If we want to believe lies, he won’t stop us.

    Those who follow the lawless one and receive condemnation “refused to love the truth and so be saved”(2 Thess 2:10) and “had pleasure in unrighteousness”(2 Thess 2:12).  What do I love?  Do I love truth—even when it hurts?  Am I committed to knowing and doing what is right?  Or is my true desire to do evil, to believe lies that comfort me, to pursue my own pleasure?  If I want to survive the onslaughts of Satan, I must honestly answer this question:  what do I love?

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One Thing to Think About:   What might it look like in my life to “love the truth”?

One Thing to Pray For:  A tender heart willing to believe and obey the truth
 

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