DO THIS! (PART 2)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive.

1 Thessalonians 5:14a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If you want to know how to live the Christian life, you have to read the Bible. It’s a must.

When you do this, you will find plenty of guidance on the behaviors the Lord expects you to adopt...and they aren’t optional. One such place for this is toward the end of Paul’s first letter to the believers in Thessalonica, a passage that serves as the base for this latest series of messages titled “Do This!”.

In yesterday’s opener, we saw where the Lord commands His people to “live in peace with one another”, learning that the success in carrying out this expectation was to first be at peace with Jesus who is the Prince of peace. In other words, any hope for a shared peace among the people of the world rests in the commitment of people to put Jesus and His peace first.

Today, we look at the second thing we are called by the Lord to do.

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive (5:14a).

Now, as I have often encouraged through my Bible teaching and subsequent writing, it can be extremely helpful to look at different Bible translations so to gain a better understanding of what the Lord is calling us to do. When we do this with the first part of verse 14, here’s what we find:

Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. NLT

My friends, we beg you to warn anyone who isn't living right. CEV

And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are irresponsible. HCSB

Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly. NKJV

Through this examination, we find common ground in two things we are to do and improved clarification as to who the audience should be.

First, the commonalities.

This calling from the Lord is an exhortation and imploring. It goes out to all who are in the Lord, both brothers and sisters. Each of these verses communicates a sense of urgency to act and to warn others. In other words, this command demands that all of God’s people caution a targeted group of people.

Now, simply looking at the NIV translation would have Christians only addressing those who are “idle and disruptive” but when we consider the other renderings of this same passage, we add depth to who is to be warned. For not only are the idle and disruptive to be alerted but also the lazy, unrighteous, irresponsible, and unruly.

Think about the call to live in peace with one another. Anyone who chooses to be disruptive or unruly violates that calling. They should be notified about God’s word and His expectation for the way people are to live. For how will unbelievers know unless they are told by those who are informed in the Lord?

We are also to warn those who are unrighteous, those who are living in sin. No matter how many times we may have talked to a sinner or sinners about the sure judgment of an angry God who hates and despises sin, we can’t give up. We need to continue to sound the alarm until they get it and repent, wanting to get right with their Lord just as Jesus did in His ministry.

Additionally, we are ordered to hone in on the irresponsible and ensure they know that the Lord expects a regimented, ordered life, a life where He dictates behavior through His word, will, and Spirit. The Christian life is not a haphazard, disjointed one where anything goes and a person should just do whatever they desire. Rather, God calls us to live the life that His Son Jesus lived, a life that was always planned and dictated by God in every way. No action was taken that God didn’t first endorse because Jesus was One with His Father God in every way (Romans 10:30).

Finally, living in and through Christ isn’t a lifestyle for the idle and lazy. Jesus called all His disciples to action, commissioning them to go and make disciples, to baptize new believers, and to teach them everything that He commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). Believers are expected to get to work and labor hard for the Lord and His purposes. It is why we are here on this earth, to serve Him and others until that time when either this life ends or Jesus returns, whichever comes first to usher us into the assured salvation promise we have received.

The Bible tells us to “Do This!” today, to warn the idle and lazy, the disruptive and unruly, the unrighteous, and the irresponsible with the hope that they will change their ways and live in and through Christ Jesus. For if they do, they will always know they are living in a way that’s pleasing to the Lord.

Tomorrow, we add the third expected Christian action to the list.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com