Scripture
11So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. 12Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12
Observation
Paul is calling the eyes of the believers in Thessalonica upwards to the Return of Christ. They had leaders lying to them and telling them they had already missed it! It’s hard to have perspective when you’re being persecuted for your faith and misled by your leaders. It’s hard to have hope for a future when it’s so hard in the present. We are encouraged to know that when we don’t have the power to accomplish all the good things our faith prompts us to do God will provide it! Even though they are being persecuted for the Name of Jesus there good lives are bringing Him honor. He finishes with the reminder that faith takes work, but it’s not by works that we will make it, but only by the grace of Jesus. Everything in them wanted to quit, but Paul reminds them they’ve got one job- to follow the prompts of faith by His power. The wording for “good things” is literally “primary occupation.” Is there injustice? Yes, but Jesus will bring His Justice. Just focus on your one job. Is there persecution? Yes, but Jesus will give You power to overcome. Just focus on your one job. Keep showing up to work. Don’t just show up, but live a life worthy of his call!
Application
Have you heard of “Quiet Quitting”? It’s the concept of no longer going above and beyond at work, and instead doing the bare minimum of what a job description requires. Apparently, this is a response to the reimagining of work/life balance caused by the global pandemic. Working remote, cutting out early on Fridays, or not even showing up to work if something better comes along is now a trend in an already struggling work force. Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post and CEO at Thrive, wrote in a viral LinkedIn post, “Quiet quitting isn’t just about quitting on a job, it’s a step toward quitting on life.” Could it be that we’ve been Quiet Quitting in our Christian Faith? We show up to Church once a month, but we are just there to check the God box. We throw a couple dollars in the box, but there’s no way we are giving more than that! Have you seen how expensive everything is right now? We try not cuss too much, at least not out loud, because our co-workers know we are Christians. Daily devotions is more of a prayer before our meal or a podcast listening to someone else’s word from God. We are still showing up, but are we accomplishing all the good things our faith prompts us to do? Do we even sense faith promptings anymore? If what we are doing for the Lord doesn’t require power from the Lord it’s quite possible we are quiet quitting on Christ. If I’m stuck in a rut it’s because I’ve stopped following His daily prompting. My primary occupation is to honor Jesus by the way I live, love, and serve those around me. Am I going to give the bare minimum to the One who gave me everything of Himself on The Cross? No way! “Quick, look busy, the boss is here” is not how I want to live.
Prayer
By Your grace Jesus I will be ready for Your soon return. At this four year mark of being here in San Diego I pray that I would not shift into maintenance mode. Instead, I will show up, press in, pull out all the stops to follow the prompts of Your Spirit. Forgive for me for any place where my faith has been half way in its response. I not quiet quitting, I’m walking worthy of Your calling by the power of Your Spirit!
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