1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 (NIV)
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good.
“Do not, he says, quench the Spirit by treating prophetic utterances with contempt. The proper solution to the problem of potential abuse is not to throw out the baby with the bath water; it is instead to ‘test everything’ (5:21a). Paul strikes a careful balance here: ‘Because such utterances are from the Holy Spirit, they must not be despised, but also because such utterances come through merely human vessels,’ they are not to be accepted blindly just because someone claims to have the Spirit… Once a prophecy has been ‘tested,’ the next step is clear: Hold on firmly to those that are good, and have nothing to do with those that are not.” [Michael W. Holmes, NIVAC: 1 & 2 Thessalonians, pp. 184-5]
If the word is something about your future, write it down or store it in your memory, and wait on God to reveal the fuller meaning. If the word is immediately applicable, let it sink deep in, let it be directional, let it change you, let it make you feel especially loved and remembered by God.
Prayer: Father, help us to hold on to what is good, to remember, to stay affected, to be formed and filled by what you would say to us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let’s worship to the song, “Goodness of God” by Bethel Music (click here).
– AK
