Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”
Our Bible verse for today: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Obey God and go to work!”
It’s Monday morning and a new workweek is beginning. Maybe you’re groaning and wishing you could just stay in bed. Maybe you’re wishing you were independently wealthy and didn’t need to work. Maybe you want to retire at the ripe old age of 33. Well, if you’re healthy enough to work and you have a job, then praise God and get moving.
The truth is that work is God’s idea and it is a good thing. From the earliest chapters of Genesis, when God put Adam in charge of the Garden of Eden, right up to the closing chapters of the book of Revelation where we discover that even in eternity we will do the work of ruling and reigning with Christ, the Bible portrays work as a good thing and therefore God commands us to work. For a deeper study of the Biblical command to have a job, and the benefits of work, see chapter thirteen of my book “Walking with Paul”, or read the article I wrote, “Who’s the Boss?” You can find them both on my website at http://www.JimMersereauBooks.com.
Unfortunately many people do not work when they could and should. I frequently encounter relatively healthy people who, while they do have some health problems, they have managed to game the system by getting themselves declared 100% disabled. Now they live at the tax payer’s expense as they collect disability, food stamps, and subsidized housing. As a society we have to reform this system and stop the abuses. It is un-biblical for a person who could be supporting themselves to instead be living off of others. If a person can work, they should.
I also sometimes meet young adults who have figured out how to game their parents. These are shiftless and unproductive young adults who are accomplishing nothing with their lives and who continue to live off of mom and dad. And the parents are over-indulgent to the point of chronic enabling. By being an enabler those parents are ensuring their child will never amount to anything in life. Biblically the young person is required by God to work and to support themselves. And Biblically the parents are required by God to either make that young person take care of themselves, or to cut the cord and let them suffer the consequences. That’s exactly what Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 3:10. If the person gets hungry enough, they’ll get a job so they can buy some food. Paul wasn’t counseling us to be hard-hearted regarding true need, but he was cautioning us to not allow ourselves to be gamed by those who are just lazy.
Ok, back to the subject of getting out of bed and getting on with your workweek. Obey God. Go to work. Be the best employee in the company. And thank God that you have a job to go to.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 