Even if you have the day off today, remember you're created to work.
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Previous DIG DEEPER posts on 2 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians 2 Summary
Paul in his letters does not often ask for prayer for himself, but when he does, he doesn't ask for prayers that everything in general will go well for him, but rather that the gospel might be blessed and take hold in the places Paul is planting it. This is what he begins chapter 3 asking for: that the message [word] of the Lord may spread and be honored, and that Paul's crew would be rescued from faithless people (v2).
If the Lord is faithful, why doesn't He just make all of our problems disappear? Verses 3-5 give some indication as to how God's faithfulness works in protecting you from evil. Rather than weakening your problems, God strengthens and protects you (v3), and as you continue to do His will (v4), He directs your hearts into His love and perseverance (v5). That's way better than just making problems go away.
Dig Deeper
One of the things that the Thessalonian people have been famous for over the years is the mistaken belief that Jesus was going to come back in a very short period of time. They had concluded that if Jesus was coming back next week, they might as well take the remainder of their time off. Would you show up at work if you thought there were only a few more days before Jesus returned?
Of course it's true that we're to always be ready, because it's possible that Jesus could come back at any moment, but at the same time we're to work and make plans as if life will go on for decades or even centuries. We have a strong heritage in the faith of men and women, who like the example Paul gives of his own hard work in v6-10, demonstrated well that beautiful Latin phrase seen on so many old barns: Ora et Labora (pray and work).
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The Lord is faithful and strengthens and protects you (v3)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to direct your heart into His love and Christ's perseverance (v5) that you may work hard for Him
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
