Here on eternity's edge we are blessed by the company we keep. Thank God for our fellow Christians who help and support us on our journey.

What memories must have stirred Paul as God's Spirit pushed the apostle's pen to write his first letter to the Christians in Thessalonica! Acts chapter 17 records what had happened there. Said simply, in that large (population 200,000), politically prominent, and commercially important Greco-Roman city, Paul, with fellow missionary Silas and probably protégé Timothy too, had preached the gospel.

PREACHING THE GOSPEL IN THESSALONICA

Their work began in the local synagogue. For three straight Sabbaths the apostle proclaimed Christ crucified and risen as the long-promised Messiah of Old Testament prophecy. By the Spirit's power, some of Thessalonica's Jews and many "God-fearing Greeks" (Acts 17:4) believed Paul's message and came to faith in Jesus. Then for an unknown—but apparently substantial—amount of time Paul lived and labored among the Thessalonians.

That happy effort came to an abrupt end. Jealous Jews who had rejected the Good News formed a mob of "bad characters from the marketplace" (Acts 17:5) and started a riot to disrupt the young ministry. After an unsuccessful search for Paul and Silas, they dragged some of the new believers into court. The mob slandered these Thessalonian Christians with charges of rebellion against Rome. That provoked a dangerous turmoil among the city's officials and people. Paul and Silas had to make a hasty, nighttime exit from a city where they had seen the gospel flourish.

With that shared, intense history as background, Paul encouraged the Thessalonians with good memories of the past (the gospel's success despite opposition), gentle guidance for the present (a Christian's life amid a pagan world), and firm facts about the future (Jesus' second coming at the world's end). All three—past hardship, present challenges, and especially future glory—reminded Christians then and now that we live on the edge of eternity.

THANKING GOD FOR FELLOW CHRISTIANS

Here on eternity's edge we are blessed by the company we keep. In the main body of his letter, Paul first writes, "We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers" (1 Thessalonians 1:2). Paul, Silas, and Timothy did not simply name Thessalonians in their prayers, as beautiful and sufficient as that might have been. They also gratefully listed the Thessalonians' faith, love, hope, deeds, and endurance (1:3). They praised God for the way these believers lived life. Paul's words briefly summarize how they prayed, thankful in detail for their fellow Christians.