Good morning! Today we will continue our reading in 2 Thessalonians chapter three. In these verses, Apostle Paul wrote the church about proper living amongst the believers in Thessalonica. Enjoy today’s devotion.

Bible verse: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 NLT

“⁶ And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. ⁷ For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. ⁸ We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. ¹⁰ Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”

¹¹ Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. ¹² We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. ¹³ As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.

¹⁴ Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. ¹⁵ Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would a brother or sister.”

Reflection

A few of the key points in these verses were:

• Not to be idle believers
  • Characteristics of idle believers:
    • They refuse to work
    • They refuse to follow Biblical teachings
    • They meddle in other people’s business
• Don’t think of them as enemies, but warn them as you would your brother or sister.

Sisters and brothers, Apostle Paul wanted to ensure believers were not taking advantage of other believers or living contrary to what he taught them about Christ. It is apparent that there were believers who were on fire for Christ and the character of those believers were setting a tone for the church and other churches in the region. Unfortunately, there were pockets of believers who preferred to reap the rewards of being called a believer without doing the work of a believer.

While Paul knew this was not to be so, he was quick to say they are not your enemy, but they will disrupt character of believers and the church. Sisters and brothers, this is where speaking truth in love and developing discipleship within the church is so important. Redirect character and behavior to further reflect the love of Christ and to grow the church requires all of us to work – to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with our mouths, in our deeds, in action and within our character.

Sisters and brothers, it is not an easy task but we can do it.

• Will you pray for the global church and for believers around the world to stand firm in Christ Jesus?
• Will you pray for believers to begin to read and follow the word, instead of following man?
• Will you pray for the meddlers and gossipers in the church – that their idle work and tongues of folly will to cease?

Sisters and brothers, as Paul wrote “never get tired of doing God.” There will be times when we will be called to sit still and then there will be times when we are called to move – when it is time to move forward in Christ, don’t sit idle. Keep living for Christ even when others aren’t or have lost their way. Continue to be an example of a Christian believer who imitates Christ in this world.

Prayer

Father God thank you for today. Thank you for waking us up this morning and for leading us. Lord, forgive us of the times when we sat idle in our relationship with you. Forgive us for the times when we refused to be led by you and we turned to our own desires. Thank you for bringing us back to you. Lord, we want to continue to live our lives for you and point others to Christ. Lord, we are grateful for your mercies, but extremely grateful for your love and protection. Lord, as we continue to live our lives to serve you and bring glory to your name, don’t let us forget to show compassion and love to others. Remind us to pray for others. Keep working in us. In Jesus name, amen.

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