holding on to what is good

1 Thessalonians 5:19–22 (NIV) — 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.

The commands here are counterparts to the commands we looked at yesterday. Whereas the commands from yesterday were positive (do this), these are negative (don’t do this).

Do not quench the Spirit. It may be helpful to compare the Spirit to a fire. How would you quench, or put out, a fire? We might do that by withdrawing fuel and letting it burn out, or by putting something on it that doesn’t burn, like water or dirt. So what might be the spiritual fuel for the spiritual fire? Could it be the things we’ve talked about yesterday: rejoicing, praying and giving thanks? What might be the spiritual extinguishing material?

How is your spiritual fire burning? Is it burning steadily, growing hotter, or slowly dying? What can you do today to keep that spiritual fire burning? How can the church help you? Is there someone you know that needs their spiritual fire stirred up? If so, what can you do?

Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all. “Prophecies” means the preaching, interpreting and applying the word of God. This command is double edged – don’t treat them with contempt, but on the other hand test them. Why did Paul give this double command?

How do you treat preaching, devotionals, or other ways the word of God is applied? Do you have a tendency to treat them all the same? What basis do you make the distinction between what is good or not?

Reject every kind of evil. This overarching command is meant to cover everything that has been said, and what might have been left unsaid.

How are you doing in this area? Are you tolerating certain sins in your life? Do you allow some thoughts or actions in your life even though you know it’s wrong? What can you do about that?