Test and Trust

Paul continues the end of his letter to the Thessalonians with short, practical exhortations.  In verses 20-21 we read this:  “Do not despise prophecies.  Test all things; hold fast what is good.”  I think the decades after the resurrection of Jesus were filled with false teachers and false prophecies.  There was no “bible” as a standard to compare false teaching. Therefore, anyone could say what he/she wanted and claim it to be from God.  It was important to test these prophecies, but not to dismiss them out of hand or despise them.  Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to hold fast to what was good, to trust it.  I think the same advice rings true for today.  If a prophecy is a teaching or a “telling forth” of truth, I don’t think we should despise it.  We should evaluate it against God’s word.  We should test it against God’s word and if it is right, we should hold fast to it.  We can test and trust.  If we do this, we will keep from going down an erroneous path that will lead to trouble.

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