Theological Commentary: Click Here
I love the
emphasis on work within this passage.
Work is good for the soul. Work
gives us a sense of fulfillment and belonging.
Work allows us to know our place and even feel needed. Work does marvelous things within us.
In this
chapter, the emphasis on work starts with the Lord. The Lord is faithful. Part of His work towards us is to protect us
from evil. In fact, He protects us from
the Evil One. In doing so, He directs
our hearts. He works on our behalf.
Then, we see
Paul turn to the antithesis of work.
Paul warns us against the idle.
He warns us against people who aren’t willing to work. He speaks to us against people who seem to
demand resources without contributing to the system. If anyone isn’t willing to work, don’t feed
them. People should earn their
keep. Our work need not be equal, but we
should all work.
Finally, Paul
turns to encourage us to not become weary in doing good. Not only should we be wary of idleness, we
should be serious about doing good. We
should want the love of God, which is within our hearts, to come out through
our works. As Jesus teaches us, we will
know the love within us by the fruit of our labor.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment