Nothing, Part Two (4/4-6)

04-06 April 2015 – “Nothing” Part Two – Manna by Dorothy Callies

2 Thess. 3:13 NLT, “And I say to the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.”

Part two remain the same question from Part one: “What if my work has “nothing” to do with anything “Christian”—How can God be glorified in my work?” Answer:  Christians are commanded to work hard at whatever they do. What did Paul really believe? Paul was writing here about the person who is lazy.

To find out more, let’s read 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 NLT, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from any Christians who lives in idleness and doesn’t follow the tradition of hard work we gave you.

7) For you know that you ought to follow our example. We were never lazy when we were with you. 8) We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9) It wasn’t that we didn’t have the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.

10) Even while we were with you, we gave you this rule: “Whosoever does not work should not eat.” 11) Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and wasting time meddling in other people’s business. 12) In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we appeal to such people—no we command them: Settle down and get to work. Earn your own living. 13) And I say to the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.”

Again, *Paul was writing about the person who is lazy. Paul explained that when he and his companions were in Thessalonica, they worked hard, buying what they needed rather than becoming a burden to any of the believers. The rules they followed was, “Whoever does not work should not eat.”

*There’s a difference between leisure or pleasure and laziness. Relaxation and recreation provide a necessary and much needed balance to our life; but when it is time to work, Christians should jump right in. We should make the most of our talent and time, doing all we can to provide for ourselves and our dependents. Rest when you should be resting, and work when you should be working. [*Some of the notes are from QVLB]

What does this means to me? Sometimes I wonder if it was okay to play free puzzles in IPAD that I enjoyed very much during my break time. It was amazing that God’s Word would let you know how to balance your life.  

The next question: How did Paul handle with those Christians who do “nothing” and stay in their idleness in the church?

To be continued with Part Three.