Working or Idling | English Devotion | NHFCSG

Working or Idling 
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 

#1 Strength and purity of the church
Churches should never withdraw from someone because he fails to conform to man’s traditions or teachings. The only standard to uphold is apostolic tradition and teaching.
Paul had already told the Thessalonians to warn the unruly (1 Thessalonians 5:14). Apparently, the problem still remained in some measure, so he told them to now discipline the unruly ones in question. 
The purpose in withdrawing from these disobedient was not so much punishment, but more so simply to deny these disobedient ones the aid and comfort of the fellowship of the body of Christ until they repented. It put them out of the church into the “domain” of Satan (the world), in hope that they might miss the fellowship of the church so much they would repent of their disobedience.
 
Paul echoed the same idea in 1 Corinthians 5:4-5. The purpose was to bring about repentance and salvation in the disobedient ones, not to condemn or damn them.

#2 Work in the Bible.
Work is a good thing because it reflects God's character in us. God is a worker "par excellence. “He created the universe, and he created us. Since we are made in God's image, it is natural for us to create and build things as well.
Some wrongly claim that work is a curse God put on humans. The Garden of Eden gets the blame.
Genesis 3:17 Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
Genesis 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground.
However, work itself is not the curse. Even when we were perfect in the Garden of Eden, humans worked at taking care of it.
Gen 2:15 Our disobedience in Eden led to a curse that made work drudgery instead of a joy.

 Paul was an excellent example among the Thessalonians, in that he worked hard to support his own needs. 

        
#3 Set an example.
Paul points to his own life. He did not sit around and do nothing. He paid for his own food. He worked so he would not be a burden on anyone.
This was actually a sore point for Paul. He worked as a tentmaker so he would not be dependent on anyone.
He did not want to be paid, but he wanted to be valued. His work was worthy of compensation.
In 1 Corinthians 9, we find that some doubted this. Opponents didn't view him as a "real" apostle. He deserves a wage, but refused to take one to make a larger point. Nobody owned him, or the gospel he preached.
All Christians should follow his example. If we want something, we should work and earn it.   
Few things are more wearying than seeing others take advantage of Christian generosity. But we should never let the manipulations of some discourage us from doing good to the truly needy.

Let us Pray 
May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all. Let God’s grace which is from the beginning of time be with us till the end of the Christian life. Amen.