Idleness

“But we command you, brethren, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walk disorderly (idle) and not according to the tradition (teaching) which he received from us.” 2 Thessalonians 3:6

I was reading 2 Thessalonians 3 to my daughter on Wednesday night and my thoughts set on the verse above. The word ‘disorder’ is written as ‘idle’ in the New International Version. In the Korean version the word ‘disorder’ is translated as ‘lazy.’ Last winter, I learned the lesson of what happens when you are lazy.

Snow started falling only after a few weeks we moved from California. And there was a lot of snow. Up until then I had been living in apartments so I had never worried about the parking lots, watering and mowing the lawn, or even snow blowing. Inches of snow came down and I heard my neighbors starting their snow blowers to clean up their driveway and the side walks. I said to myself, “It’s going to snow again tomorrow and I have lots of work to do now. I will clean up later.” Couple days later I realized I made a mistake. There was just too much snow and the driveway had turned into an ice rink. Lesson learned.

Paul warns the church of Thessalonica to ‘withdraw from those who are disorderly (Idle or lazy).’ For they have not been living according to the traditions (or teachings). This warning is also an encouragement. Paul is encouraging the members to be faithful, rather than being idle, according to God’s teachings. In the rest of the passage Paul encourages the members to work hard and do good. But this is only possible if we walk according to the Word of God.

The New Year begins in couple weeks. It is now time to look back and examine ourselves whether we have been idle or faithful in God’s Words. At the same time, now would be a good time to reaffirm our faith in God, to live according to His teachings, so that we ‘do not grow weary in doing good’ (verse 13) in 2015, which is one year closer to Jesus’ second coming.