THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL

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In Christ, Mark

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

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.

1 Timothy 1:5-6

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

As we began our study of 1 Timothy yesterday, we found the Paul writing his missionary partner who was ministering to the Ephesian church. In his opening, the Apostle expressed a concern over “false doctrines” that were being taught by “certain people”. These shared untruths included “myths and endless genealogies” that spawned “controversial speculations” instead of “advancing God’s work” through faith.

In essence, Paul’s message to Timothy to share with the believers in Ephesus was to “keep the main thing, the main thing” and the main thing would always be the Gospel. The same holds true today.  

With this in place, let’s look at verses 5 and 6 of this first chapter of 1 Timothy as Paul continues to reinforce his call to stop any and all false teaching in the Ephesian church. We wrote:

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk.

Look to the heart of the Gospel and who do you find?

Jesus, right?

Without Him and what He did in obedience to the calling of His Father God, we would have no “good news” to share with anyone because there would be no Christ to identify with (i.e. no one who would be called Christian) and, therefore, no Christianity.

Thankfully, Jesus did everything His Father called Him to do and so everyone who believes in Him will not perish but gain everlasting life. Jesus said so Himself:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

This is the Gospel message that was and is to be shared, not the “meaningless talk” that had infiltrated the church in Ephesus. The enemy will always try to move the focus away from Jesus and toward the world. Christians need to always have their eyes fixed upon the cross of Calvary.

This is what Paul wanted for his Ephesian brothers and sisters, and he sent his command, not out of malice but out of love. He wasn’t demanding a turning from false doctrines because he somehow cared less for the believers in Ephesus. Rather, it was because he cared all the more. It was a love that all Christians should have for others, a love that mimicked the love of Jesus for while He is the heart of the Gospel, in His heart we find nothing but love. Consider His words found in the Gospel of John:

“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are My friends if you do what I command.” John 15:9-14

Friends, at the heart of the Gospel is Jesus and at the heart of Jesus is love. He was loved perfectly by His Father and, in turn, He loves us perfectly because He and God are one (John 10:30). Then, we in turn get the great privilege and responsibility to love others as Jesus has loved us.

Love begets love and when we allow this to happen, we can make Jesus’ joy complete just as we will find our own.

Turn your eyes, your heart, and your mind to Jesus, the One who is at the heart of the Gospel, centered on His redeeming, saving work on the cross, and then invest your time every day to share this good news with others. For Jesus called us to action when it comes to making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), telling others about Him and all He commanded out of the love we find in and through Him, the love that is found at His heart.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

KEEP THE MAIN THING, THE MAIN THING

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In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

To Timothy, my true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.

1 Timothy 1:1-4

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

Today, we begin a study of Paul’s first letter to his protégé, Timothy, and as we will see, this letter is written well into Paul’s relationship with his “true son in the faith” who was ministering within the church of Ephesus at the time of the Apostle’s writing.

We first find Timothy come on the scene during Paul’s second missionary journey as documented in the sixteenth chapter of Acts.

Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. Vv. 1-5

Similar to Jesus, Paul was always on the lookout to add new Jesus disciples to his missionary team and although young (it’s estimated he was in his late teens or early twenties when he meets Paul), Timothy’s reputation within his community of Lystra and Iconium peaked the Apostle’s interest. From that point forward, Paul would become Timothy’s mentor in the ministry.

Paul would go on to dispatch Timothy as his representative, first to the church in Thessalonica:

So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. 1 Thessalonians 3:1-3

Then, he is sent to Macedonia as Paul headed to Jerusalem:

After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer. Acts 19:21-22

After this, Timothy went onto Corinth:

I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. 1 Corinthians 4:17

Later, the scriptures indicate that Timothy was with Paul while the Apostle was imprisoned in Rome and Paul wrote these words to the Philippian church, hoping to send Timothy to them:

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. Philippians 2:19-23

And upon Paul’s release from his incarceration, he sends Timothy off to Ephesus, following up the assignment with this first letter we’re beginning to look at today, a letter that is often categorized as a pastoral epistle, grouped with the second letter to Timothy and the letter to Titus.

With this background in place, let’s look at Paul’s opening words to his missionary partner:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

To Timothy, my true son in the faith:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith.  1 Timothy 1:1-4

Why did Paul feel the need to write to Timothy?

Our passage tells us that there were problems in the Ephesian church, specifically false teaching of doctrine. These errors in proper instruction were grounded in a devotion to “myths and endless genealogies”.

Here we find the root of issues within the Christian church that have existed since its advent. This root is deeply grounded in a diversion from the scriptures which are to be the foundation of church instruction and principle. There is no other more authoritative word than the very word of God Himself.

But in Ephesus, we see that there was a greater emphasis placed on whimsical stories that had more footing in fantasy than on the scriptures. Myths were things that false religions placed their hope in as they worshiped a multitude of gods. They had no place in the Christian church and it promoted "controversial speculations" rather than the truth and "advancing God's work".

Ditto for an obsession with ancestry and what had been done for the generations. Most of these genealogies were focused on people who had no faith in the one true God at all let alone have any understanding how everything in the past had pointed to the present and the implementation of God’s plan of salvation through Jesus His Son. In Christ, God formed a new covenant with mankind and all people had access to the kingdom. All they had to do was simply believe in Christ as Savior.

With this, the main focus of the church was and is to be the Gospel. Period. Not on anything else.

This is what our Lord demands and expects the church to be. We’re to keep the main thing (the Gospel) the main thing.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

WISHING GRACE AND PEACE

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:16-18

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

We’ve had a great study of Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica and as we look at the Apostle’s closing words, we couldn’t find a much better way to close things out. Look at these final verses from the third chapter:

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Vv. 16-18

I have always admired about how Paul corresponded with the newly established Christian churches, many of which he had personally helped plant. He wrote out of general love and concern for his brothers and sisters in Christ, always striving to help them succeed and thrive as a congregation and become more like Christ as disciples.

Of course, we know the first century Christians were under constant harassment and persecution, trying to establish a foothold in the midst of older, more established religions. Even among the Jews, who placed their belief in God but refused to accept that He would send His own Son Jesus to save them as well as everyone else, there was mistreatment and even a striving for eradication of the Christ-centered faith.

With this, note how Paul doesn’t just end his letter with a simple “goodbye” or “Love, Paul” ending. Rather, we find him wishing that two things would fall on his brother and sister Thessalonian Christians.

First, he petitioned for them to have peace, not just any peace but the perfect peace that would come from a perfect Lord, the “Lord of peace”. This wished serenity wasn’t targeted toward some specific need. Rather, Paul asks for the Thessalonian believers to experience peace from the Lord, “at all times and in every way”.

In other words, Paul hoped that there never would be a time when the church in Thessalonica and its members weren’t experiencing peace. It’s a beautiful desire lifted up to a beautiful Lord for a beautiful group of Jesus followers.

Now, Paul could have just mentioned this one longing and it would have been amazing as is but he didn’t stop there. For we see that he not only requested the Lord’s peace to be with the Thessalonian Christians but grace as well.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Despite committing their belief in Jesus as Savior, the believers in Thessalonica were still sinners. There would be times when they would fail and fall into disobedience like any other people.

In those moments of failure that Paul knew would surely come, he asked for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with the Thessalonian disciples, a pardon and forgiveness from repented sin that could only come from the One who had paid the sin debt in full. It’s a grace is fully undeserved and unearned, a grace that could come from no other source. That’s why we refer to it as “amazing”.

Friends, as we write to others in our own hand as Paul did, let us always remember to wish others would have the peace and grace of our Lord at a minimum. For perhaps there could be no greater two things we could petition for that would show our love and caring, a love and caring we find modeled by the Apostle.

Tomorrow, we begin a study of Paul’s first letter to his protégé, Timothy.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A HEALTHY SHAME

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In Christ, Mark

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

Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15

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

Have you ever felt ashamed over something you may have done?

I think all of would say that we’re been there at one time or another. We’re imperfect people and therefore many of our actions are imperfect. It’s going to happen because we all have sinned (Romans 3:23).

And yet, Christian believers aren’t to allow shame to dominate their hearts and minds. The Lord knows that it’s extremely unhealthy to do so and therefore made the way for us to eliminate shame when it comes upon us. That way is called repentance.

Repentance isn’t some complex theological task the Lord expects us to carry out. Rather, it is as simple as our tendency to sin itself. All we need to do is to initiate it, coming before the Lord and confessing what we have done wrong, the source of our shame feelings. We then need to commit to not repeat the sin we just confessed.

Or as Jesus put it as He dismissed the adulteress who narrowly escaped execution by stoning:

“Go and sin no more.” John 8:11

Shame that drives a Christian believer to confession and repentance is healthy. It leads to a positive result, the Jesus follower getting right with their Lord. And as we see in today’s penultimate message from 2 Thessalonians, we find the Apostle Paul sanctioning actions that would bring on this positive onset of disgrace and dishonor. Look again at his words here:

Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer (3:14-15).

Paul’s letter intended to provide important instructions to the Thessalonian church and its members, instructions that would ensure they were living for Christ the right way while carrying out His calling. The expectation was every Jesus follower in Thessalonica would get onboard with the direction and carry it out.

But within the Thessalonian congregation, as we also see in the church today, no matter how well the guidance of the Lord is taught through the preaching and teaching of the Word through the leading of the Holy Spirit, there are Christians who will choose to live in disobedient to the Lord’s will and way.

How should the church handle these individuals?

The scriptures tell us that the church isn’t to associate with them, not without stating the reason, but rather warning them about the sin they have fallen into.

Why?

So that they might feel ashamed and want to turn away from their wrongdoing to once again feel they are a part of the beloved body of Christ.

Now, note that this was to be carried out the right way so that the shame would be spiritually healthy in nature. The disobedient believer wasn’t to be excommunicated or vilified. They weren’t the enemy of the church but rather in opposition with God, the God of mercy and grace and forgiveness.

When we sin against God and stray from His Word and will, He doesn’t cut us off from Him forever. Rather, He convicts us of our sin, causing a healthy shame in our heart and mind intended to bring us to admission of our sins and a commitment to abandon those sins in order to change for the better.

Friends, all Christians are sinners. We all fail and fall, therefore we will experience a healthy shame as we stand before the Lord who despises sin and yet forgives and saves. If the Lord pardons us when we come to Him and repent, then we need to pardon ourselves for He has removed the guilt from us. He has forgotten our transgression so why should we keep remembering it and condemning ourselves?

Satan, our true enemy, wants us to persevere in guilt because it cripples and disables our full ability to carry out our Gospel-sharing calling. Don’t allow him to try and convince you that the Lord hasn’t forgiven you. Accept and embrace His absolution with thanksgiving and get back into the fight because there are so many lost souls who need to hear the good news of God’s redemption and salvation for sinners through belief in His Son, the Savior and Lamb who came and took away the sin of the world (John 3:16, 1:29).

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com

TIRELESS RIGHTEOUSNESS

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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

And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

2 Thessalonians 3:13

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

Every day is full of opportunity.

As I have gotten older and matured more and more in my Christian faith, I believe this is the one life principle that continues to come to the forefront more than any other.

I say this because time is one of the greatest commodities given by God and the beauty of it is that everyone gets the same amount. We all get 24 hours a day.

Now, even though time is the great equalizer between people, transcending socio-economic and cultural boundaries, what isn’t identical is the way that people use the time that God has given them. Like the micro differences between individual flakes of snow, no two people identically use their time the same way and let’s be clear here. We all have a choice as to how we do so. No one dictates how we opt to use our time.

Christian songwriter and singer Chris Rice penned these lyrics in response to this truth, that we have the freedom to use our time as we wish:

Every day is a bank account and time is our currency.

So no one’s rich, nobody’s poor.

We all get 24 hours each.

 

So how are you gonna spend?

Will you invest or squander?

Try to get ahead or help someone who’s under?

 

Teach us to count the days.

Teach us to make the days count.

Lead us in better ways for somehow our souls forgot.

Life means so much.

Life means so much.

Life means so much.

 

Ask yourself, how do you spend your time daily?

Do you invest in making a difference in the lives of others for the cause of Christ?

Or do you squander the precious time the Lord has given you, providing no return on His investment in you?

These are questions we all need to seriously consider as believers.

As we turn to our single verse for today from the final chapter of 2 Thessalonians, we find Paul aggressively addressing the matter of using time wisely as he writes to his brother and sister Christians in Thessalonica. He writes this:

“And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.” v. 13

What is the good that Paul exhorts here?

It is anything that we do that is in obedience to God’s calling and pleasing in His sight. For when we carry out His word and will, following the lead of the Holy Spirit, we will always ensure that everything we do is good and right.

Indeed, the Lord calls us to constant and consistent righteousness and we are to pursue it tirelessly. We should never feel spent in our efforts to fulfill the Lord’s desires and if we do begin to feel weary, we turn to Him and He lifts us up on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:28-31). He will always bring us through what He calls us to, especially when it comes to doing the good He wants us to do.

This day, the day you are reading the message the Lord has provided, is a day full of opportunity. Make the most of it, and every other 24 hour period the Lord gives you, by tirelessly seeking righteousness so that you might ever do the good He wants you to do.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

SET THE EXAMPLE

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.

2 Thessalonians 3:7-9

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

How do you know how to live as a Christian?

Hopefully, believers would say that the answers are found in the four Gospels of the Bible which form the introduction to the New Testament. For within these Gospels, we read about how Jesus lived His life.

Indeed, to be a Christian is to be Christ-like in the way we live the life God has blessed us with. We are to follow His example and model what we do after Him, guided by the constant counsel and leading of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus disciples do this, something beautiful happens.

They become Christian role models, setting the right example for others to follow.

This progression isn‘t some 21st century epiphany within the Christianity lifestyle. Rather, it has existed since Jesus ascended to Heaven to sit at His Father’s right hand and His disciples took over His work after being empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2). As we continue to look at the words of the Apostle Paul from the third chapter of his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, we find him talking about the importance of Christian example setting:

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. Vv. 7-9

In obedience to the Jesus’ Great Commission, Paul and his fellow missionaries were going wherever God sent them to share the Gospel with all people, whether Jew or Gentile. Through the new covenant, the instigator of the Gospel message, salvation was now open to anyone who would simply place their belief in Jesus as Savior, a blessing offered to them out of God’s love (John 3:16).

This Gospel work was what led to the making of Christian disciples in Thessalonica who in turn formed the backbone of the church there. They had learned about Jesus from Paul and the others who then commanded their new Thessalonian brothers and sisters to follow their example and carry on sharing and spreading the Gospel after they departed and moved onto the next place God would lead them to.

The scriptures tell us that the example set by Paul and his fellow workers for the cause of Christ included hard “laboring and toiling” during “night and day”. They made sure they did this while not being a “burden”, even paying for whatever food they ate during their time of ministry. The work of the Gospel is always to be proactive and as we look at the accounts of Paul’s missionary journeys within the Book of Acts, we see where he was never idle but always engaged with others for the cause of Christ.

This is what was expected from the Thessalonian Christians and it’s what is expected of Jesus believers today. All disciples of Jesus are to labor hard for their Savior because as He proclaimed, “The harvest is plenty but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37). The Apostle Paul did, setting an example for us to follow so we too can model Jesus in our own lives and be obedient to His call to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). When we do this, we too then can set an example for other Christians, new or experienced, to follow.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

AVOID IDLENESS

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.

2 Thessalonians 3:6, 10-12

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

The Christian life is not a life grounded in complacency. Not even close.

It shouldn’t take long for any disciple to learn this because here’s what Jesus tasked all His followers with, what we know as The Great Commission:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Note here how every one of Jesus’ demands is an action word.

Go and make disciples of all nations.

Baptize those newly made disciples in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Teach the new disciples to obey everything that Jesus commanded.

You can’t go and make and baptize and teach by just sitting around doing nothing. And since Jesus promised He is with His believers until the end of the age, why would we want Him to see us not willingly carrying out what He asked us to do?

Perhaps we need to do a little self reflection on how we spend our time, critically assessing how much of it we invest in being obedient to Jesus’ commands. After all, how can we teach others to obey what He has commanded if we aren’t willing to do it ourselves?

Friends, this is why the scriptures speak out against the matter of laziness and general lethargy in life for they couldn’t be further from where we’re expected to be as Christians.

As we see from our continued study of 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3, the Apostle Paul shows concern on this matter as he writes to his brother and sister believers in the church of Thessalonica. Look again at his words here:

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. Vv. 6, 10-12

Here, we find Paul warning the Thessalonian Christians to be intentional about who they associate with, specifically steering clear of anyone who is “idle and disruptive” while refusing to live in accordance to the Lord’s standards. Those standards were a part of the teaching that Paul and his fellow missionaries brought to the Thessalonian believers when their church was being established.

The message is very clear here.

Avoid idleness.

Why?

Because our behavior and views tend to be impacted by the company we keep. Over and over again through the ages, it has been shown that there is power in influence, both good and bad.

Hang around people who are lazy and you can be sure you will see your motivation dwindle. Soon, you will find yourself becoming more and more like those you choose to be around. This is at the root of Paul’s warning for the Thessalonian Christians needed to be active for the cause of the Gospel, not sitting around and basking in the light of their gifted, gained salvation.

Now, the words of Paul found in 2 Thessalonians isn’t the only place we find the Bible warning against a lazy lifestyle. The Book of Proverbs, the main book of wisdom in the scriptures, offers these verses:

Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth. Proverbs 10:4

A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. Proverbs 13:4

Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless go hungry. Proverbs 19:15

Sluggards do not plow in season; so at harvest time they look but find nothing. Proverbs 20:4

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. Proverbs 6:6-11

And then, as if these passages weren’t enough, we find Jesus Himself sharing the following parable in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25:

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.”

“The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.”

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’”

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’”

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’”

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Vv. 14-30

The point here is that you have to put in effort to get a result. Hard work produces positive results. Doing nothing produces nothing in return.

Jesus has called us to action, to go and make disciples while baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey all He has commanded. With this, He expects a return on His investment in everyone who believes in Him. All Christians are expected to carry on the Gospel work Jesus began and indeed is at the heart of. And we need to remember that one day all who are in Christ will be called to account for what we have or haven’t done. This is clear in the parable and no one should want to be like the third servant, the one who was "wicked and lazy". 

We won't be if we are obedient to the scriptures and avoid idleness.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.