Online Bible Verses - Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice Always

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Thessalonians 5:16-18

Let’s break it down.

Rejoice Always: Be the eternal optimist, finding something good in wherever God sees fit to put you on any given day. A good approach I would think, resulting in extraction of whatever positive aspects exist. That along with considering what the absence of His presence in our lives would entail. The rejoicing might be, on one day, a heartfelt expression of genuine thanks because things are going real well. You get up on a nice sunny day, a rare one that you have decided to take off. Take a long run, thanking God for the sun, fresh air and your health. Get back, load up the van with Mom and the kids, and head for the beach, knowing that everything you have has been provided by Him: your health, your job, the $4.00/gal gas in the van, the van itself, the food you eat and the air you breathe. Plenty to rejoice about.

Pray continually, a no brainer if indeed we claim to have a relationship with our Lord, the guy who provides us with everything. Good time for a question, which I also need to ponder and answer: How many times have you talked to God today?

Give thanks in all circumstances. First, there is a reason. Often times to shape, mold and refine us. In other instances, we do not see any reason for praise until after the fact. Had one of those occur this weekend. My boy was fishing with his friends, someone got the line all tangled up on one of the poles. So he was mad and laid into the kid, gave him the “you can’t do anything right” treatment. Was simply too hard on him, kids are kids and he’s one as well, screws up royally quite often himself. This was no way to treat your friends. Long story short, the behavior continued and impacted the whole family as well. Discipline ensued, everyone was aggravated, me and my wife got into it a little, just a bad scene. The type that doesn’t make you feel like praising God. Today however, was a different story. We talked about how we should treat our friends on the way to school. And, interestingly, we ran into that same friend who tangled up the fishing line. Apologies, already made, were reiterated. I got back into my car feeling like it was a good learning experience for my boy. So I gave God thanks.