2 Thessalonians Ch. 3
Scripture 2 Thessalonians Ch. 3 Observation
Vs. 1-5 says, “For me, verses 1-5 really showed me what other things to pray for besides myself and family and friends. I need to pray for the Good News to be spread rapidly and that it would be honored and believed, because it’s the main mission for our lives: to go out and make Jesus Christ known, thus bringing Him the glory. I need to pray that we would be protected from evil and wicked people because not everyone believes in the Lord. How many times have I been brought down by people who slander the Bible and the name of Jesus? It weighs on my heart sometimes, and I need constant protection from spiritual attacks through the oppression of those who know nothing of the Lord. And lastly, I need to pray that the Lord brings me into an even deeper understanding of His love and the endurance that comes from Christ. This kind of made me sad, considering that what I know now will not even be close to what I will know in five years, let’s say. However, even five years from now I still won’t be close to an entire understanding of the love of Christ.. but it just means to me that His love goes far beyond what I can humanely comprehend. It’s amazing. I just need to keep praying for God to open up my heart and let me see clearly why I need Him in my life and why I need a Saviour. I feel like I don’t fully comprehend it, but I know that knowledge of the Lord comes over time, and so I’m praying for it and welcoming it.
The rest of the passage tells me that our life as Christians is not an easy one—spiritually or just in our temporary lives. Like what Jesus said, we are going to be hated by the world, and secondly, life, with or without Christ, is hard in general—this passage says we need to be hard workers in a hard world. A Christian life does not give the excuse for one to be lazy, rather it requires hard work and we should cultivate a spirit of Servanthood by working hard for our living. Paul, Silas and Timothy were leaders in the church writing these letters. They made a point of being examples: “For you know that you ought to follow our examples. We were never lazy when we were with you. 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. 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.” They didn’t just tell them to work hard, they lived what they were saying so that the Christians would have no excuse to live lazy lives. So they themselves followed the example of Christ—living by example what they were teaching.
It’s interesting because they talk about it almost as if it were a sin to be lazy. I don’y often think of it like this, since it doesn’t seem to be harming anyone. But then I thought that in the New Testament, Jesus focused a lot on the heart of the person—just because they appeared clean does not mean they are clean. So with laziness, it’s not really just the lack of doing in our lives that is the sin, but the lack of passion, hard work and purpose that denies the work of Christ. It is not one of the ten commandments, but thinking about it now, laziness in life i.e. not pursuing educational goals, not trying hard enough in school, not wanting to get a job because it’s hard work, etc. is not a Christ-like image. We are not fulfilling the Purpose for our life by doing nothing—we are just doing that, nothing. It’s a forsaking of responsibilities, sometimes authority; it’s just being careless, literally. And when you don’t care about anything, you begin to lose compassion and passion—well, at least for myself.
“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.”
This passage just really spoke to me about my own life! I’ve been looking at myself and thinking, I’m really lazy. Why is it so important to Paul and company to be a hard worker, really? Maybe it’s so we don’t take advantage of others, or maybe it’s to avoid some sort of odd pride, like, “I’m too good to be washing dishes. It’s a waste of my time, I could be doing other important things,” or maybe it’s like a slap in the face to God, because we choose to do nothing with what we’re given. I don’t know! I need to think through this more.
Application
For the first part, I think I need to start praying more for the Good News of Jesus Christ to be spread globally; that the missionaries and persucted churches continue to live out their calling so that people of the world will hear about Salvation in Christ. I always pray for myself and people I know, but I have neglected prayer for the Gospel to be heard and accepted by those He has called.
I also have never thought to really pray about God keeping me away from evil people—I usually pray for protection from the Enemy, with evil spirits, etc. but not really for deliverance from bad people in my life who might negatively affect me. I need to pray for that.
And most definitely, I will continue to pray for God to open my heart up more so that I can really understand the full capacity of His love; I feel like the more I continue to pray and delve into His Word, the more I get to know Him and understand Christ’s sacrifice—the more I will appreciate Him and ultimately feel my need for Him.
As with the laziness, I will definitely keep in mind that it is not the Christian way to be lazy. Laziness is not a characteristic of Christ—Jesus lived a hard life as a carpenter, which is a lot of work (perhaps look up the duties of a an ancient Jewish carpenter) and it definitely was not lazy when he fulfilled his duty as Savior—beaten, flogged, ridiculed and nailed to the cross all for our name’s sake. If He was lazy, He could have called the angels to come and rescue Him. So as for me, I will do my part to clean up the house, do laundry, take out the trash and do the dishes as needed. I’ll try looking for a part-time job if I can, and I definitely need to try harder in school. I have had a very nonchalant idea of school—if it gets too hard, I can drop out. It’s not very good work ethic. Laziness is bad because it works against growth in the character of Servanthood, works against Endurance and fighting to the end. It might only affect your work ethic, but it could have an impact on the way that you fight for the Lord in your Faith. But overall, I just need to start doing chores around the house and keeping track of my errands.
Prayer
Dear God,
I thank you for this passage. I thank you for the Good News of Jesus Christ and that I know it, and I thank you for people who spread the Word about you. I pray that you give them safety, give eloquence to their speech and give them a passion for you that doesn’t burn out. I pray for the world, and that those who you have called to be yours come to you, and that the ears of which you have called will be opened when they hear your Word. I pray for it to be believed among the people you have chosen. I pray that you don’t put people in my life who are destructive to me, who might harm me physically or emotionally in my life. There are many who don’t know you, and so I pray that those who demonstrate extreme wickedness and opposition to Your Word are kept out of my path, except for maybe the chance that they might know you. I also pray that you help me to understand your Word and your sacrifice better, because I don’t fully understand. Sometimes I feel like I can’t because I haven’t been through a crazy life, or maybe I have, and I’ve just depended on you? Or maybe I just don’t remember. But I just pray that you help me know you on a deeper and more personal way. Please let me know you. And last but not least, help me to live a life that demonstrates Servanthood and Hard Work and Endurance. I realize that I have been slacking so much in my life in the house and in school, but you sacrificed your life, so I will too. Help instill a spirit of good and hard work in me, so that I can be more like Christ. Thank you God for everything and for Christ!
Love,
Me
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