Michelle
Paul is asking the Thessalonians to pray that their message of God spreads rapidly and that they will be delivered from wicked and evil people. He goes on to warn them against being idle. This verse stands out, "For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat' ". I found this interesting. He calls it a rule though and it makes it sound like it may not be from God, even though I am certain God doesn't want us to be idle. It also tells them to not associate with people who do not obey their instruction, but to warn them as they would a fellow believer. I feel like this shows that people have free will to think for themselves and make their own decisions, and as we know God wants us to choose to follow him.
The beginning and the end stand out here. In the beginning he says to give thanks to the Lord because his love endures forever, then at the end it says praise God and say "Amen". This made me think of a song that has these words in it. Throughout the rest of the psalm, he speaks about all the times God gave the people what they asked for and it didn't work out the way they wanted, it seems a reminder that we are to wait for God's timing.
Julie
So it seems that his words were said because people were refusing to work for a living. It's interesting that it seems we are moving into something very similar right now where people want things given to them and want those that are considered "rich" to take care of them.
...and that he always keeps his word.
No comments:
Post a Comment