1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12  Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 

2 Thessalonians 3:10-13  If a man will not work, he shall not eat.  We hear that some among you are idle.  They are not busy; they are busybodies.  Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.  And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

Paul addresses idleness in both letters to the Thessalonians.  He exhorts believers to work for a living rather than relying upon the church's continued benevolence.  Probably some Thessalonians were taking advantage of the close communal relationship in this nascent church.  Earlier in his first letter, Paul praised the Thessalonians as a model of Christian love and dedication to believers in Macedonia and Achaia, but now Paul warns some of the Thessalonians are taking advantage of the generosity of their fellow Christians by not working with their hands.  Paul as James believed real faith is always illustrated by deeds.  James concludes, As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.  (James 2:26)  Those who carried the gospel message to the known world after the resurrection of our Lord found no time for idleness.  Paul showed his faith by his actions as he walked thousands of miles, spreading the gospel and writing encouraging letters from prison to build up believers' faith.  Both men believed authentic, saving faith demands effort, an all out commitment.  Following Christ's example, Paul did not pray people from the godless cities would come to him; instead, he went to those cities, praying God would allow him to reach the lost sheep.  Jesus, Paul, and others who preached the Good News expended their energy walking from place to place, sharing God's mercy and grace.  Most often they faced persecution, beatings, and the like.  Attempting to counter some boasting in the Corinthian church, Paul alluded to his life, saying he had been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.  I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.  I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.  Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I do not feel weak?  Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?  (2 Corinthians 11:23-29)  Too often we sit at home, perhaps even praying for people's needs, yet wanting God to bring the ungodly to us, unwilling to go forth to meet the needs of others or to reach out to the unsaved.  

Sometimes Christians struggle with idleness.  Rather than stay actively involved in the game of living for Christ, we sit back, relying upon church attendance, prayer, and the expectation God will send work our way.  Prayer alone would never have brought Paul to Thessalonica or Cornith.  His faith, determination, and feet brought him there.  Jesus walked through the land of Judea, meeting people who needed him.  All the while, He put forth his best for his Father, believing He did exactly what God intended for him to do.  Although Paul tried to stir the Corinthian church by sharing some of his trials, he also told them he was a servant under orders.  Although a free man, he had aligned himself totally with his Lord.  He said he could not even boast in what he did: Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach.  Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!  (1 Corinthians 9:16)  God demands our best effort, our all.  Jesus shared the path to eternal life:  “Teacher,” he [the man] asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  “What is written in the Law?” he [Jesus] replied.  “How do you read it?”  He answered: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  (Luke 10:25-27)  Sometimes our prayers focus completely upon ourselves and our wants: Lord, please give us a new car or a better house.  Or we pray for money, hoping against hope that we might find a thousand dollars in the cupboard if we pray hard enough.  We are disheartened when these prayers are not answered.  Yes, miracles happen, but read what James said, Where do wars and fights come from among you?  Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain.  You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  (James 4:1-3)  God wants us to pray in the Spirit, seeking his perfect will.  On the Fourth of July, a man told me about how he and his wife believed God wanted them to adopt a child from war-torn Sudan.  Initially, the cost was estimated at about fifteen thousand dollars, but soon expenses climbed to above fifty thousand dollars.  He is a person with limited means, not a rich man.  His dilemma: God had directed them to adopt this little girl, yet the expenses were now beyond his means.  What should he do?  God provided.  At his mill, extra work opened up for him.  He was given the opportunity to work more than seventy hours a week for an extended time.  He praised God for this miraculous answer to his prayer!  God had given them a way to adopt their daughter.  But he had to put feet to his prayers of faith by working hard to fulfill God's answer.  This is an excellent example of faith alive through works.  James would say, "Faith without works is dead."  

Many people get discouraged if God doesn't come across when they pray for something.  Perhaps we do not see some of his answers because they require some effort from us.  Some Christians pray to be healthier in their bodies, but fail to put in the effort to be healthier even though doctors have given them specifics to help achieve that goal.  God provides them with an answer, but they fail to implement the answer in their lives because it will cost them something.   Sometimes Christians sit in poison patches of addiction, corruption, and deception.  Their self-esteem, self-worth, and image of who they are in Christ has been battered and marred by the negatives in their lives.  Yet, knowing they are perishing, they will not take the steps necessary to get out of these poison patches.  Instead, they remain IDLE, inert, resolute to do nothing.  Many times in their inertia they question God: Why haven't you answered my prayers, Lord?  They complain to other Christians about God's lack of provision for them.  In the above passage, we see Paul warning the Thessalonians about not working.  He is telling them that nothing good can come from prolonged idleness.  In the beginning of time, God told us to occupy the land.  The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  (Genesis 2:15)  We are to live life, not watch it from an armchair or from a pit of despair, ignoring the purposes and plans of our precious Savior.  Papa always tells the grandkids how proud he is of them that they are living life and not watching it after we have seen them in a play, or at a concert, or on a sports field.  They will never regret living life with all their effort; but when they are old, they will regret wasting their lives just sitting and watching others participate in activities.  God made us for life: activity not idleness.  Our spiritual and our physical beings are made to explore the world, to participate, to serve, and to work for the Lord as new creatures in Christ Jesus.  And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right; never tire of working for the Lord.  Remember what Jesus said after healing a blind man: As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.  Night is coming, when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.  (John 9:4-5)  May each of us shine as long as it is day and joyfully do the work of the Lord for his glory!