Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

WINNER IS LOSER Newspaper headlines blazed, "Winner of $140,000 Takes Own Life." Just sixteen months before, Llewellyn R. Cloos had won the money in the Irish Sweepstakes but failed to realize the responsibility of such a large sum and got into deep financial trouble. The government demanded eighty thousand dollars of the prize for taxes, and an unwise investment took the rest of it. So he shot himself. Millionaire John D. Rockefeller often told his heirs that wealth demands great responsibility. President Lyndon Johnson in his inaugural address said, "Freedom always demands more than it gives." What is true of wealth and our freedom is also true of spiritual matters. With great blessing, there is also great responsibility. This is what Paul is trying to say to the young church at Thessalonica. Thus, he concludes his book of God's blessings with instructions about our Christian responsibilities. He lists fifteen short commandments and says: For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Along with realizing our great blessing, we need to recognize our responsibilities. In another letter, Paul said: Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2).