“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” – 1 Thessalonians 1:9
Never forget that if you’re in Christ, you serve the living and true God! God is LIVING. He’s real, He’s present, He’s faithful, He’s loving. He isn’t distant, abstract, or unconcerned with your life or human affairs. God is alive. The false gods of our culture: fame, wealth, health, sex, entertainment, politics, status, power, and so forth aren’t alive. They can’t help you, they’ll inevitably fail you. Keep your eyes, mind, and heart focused on the living God of the Universe.
God is TRUE. We live in a world where everyone imagines they can make up their own truth. We pretend that if we believe a lie hard enough and repeat it to ourselves and others often enough, it becomes true. There’s no such thing as “my truth” or “your truth”. There’s only truth and God IS truth. All the other authorities and idols you might be tempted to look to will eventually lie to you, but God never will.
Finally, please remember that you SERVE God, not the other way around! Many Western Christians live life as if God were a cosmic ATM: insert prayer request here, receive desired outcome immediately, rate God based on His performance. Our practice of faith can literally turn our relationship with God upside down to our everlasting detriment. God is the sovereign King of the Universe. We aren’t. He is all-wise. We aren’t. He is perfectly good and just. We aren’t. We serve Him and must adjust our expectations and evaluations based on that reality. You know what? That’s actually a good thing!
May the report about you be the same as the report about the Thessalonians. May you serve the living and true God with joy and delight all of your days!