Christmas Countdown 2020 Day 18
I am on Day 18 with the Christmas Countdown over on the blog and true to my nature, I think I will run out of days before I run out of thoughts on 1 and 2 Thessalonians!
Each morning I read back through the verses and notes I copied into a journal and I see another little gem to help me live better for the Lord in 2020…and beyond.
Today our verses are from Chapter 4 of the first letter from Paul to the church in Thessalonica.
Do all you can to live a peaceful life. Take care of your own business, and do your own work as we have already told you. If you do, then people who are not believers will respect you, and you will not have to depend on others for what you need.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Wow.
What do you and I need to do to live a peaceful life in the middle of the chaos that has characterized much of 2020?
I am reminded of those Vortex gadgets that are often located in the lobbies of places where you take your children. They are usually geared toward raising funds for some worthy cause. Two slots are located at the top of a large yellow funnel and the idea is to place a coin in and then watch it spiral around the inside until it drops into a receptacle at the bottom. The two slots on either side create an opportunity for children (and any one who is a child at heart) to put their coins in simultaneously and then watch them race.
There are several things about this activity that I would like to point out.
1. They are usually quite unsteady and for small children they seem like something you can climb on. You can’t
2. These same small children have an uncanny knack for grabbing the coin mid-spiral and attempting another go. This usually just disrupts the whole thing and as the coin drops straight down into the hole and the other participant expresses his/her anguish…both look to the accompanying adult for yet another coin.
3. The options for entertainment around the Vortex are limitless…we could finish going through the zoo and play on the playground We have three full floors of a Children’s Museum to play in. But no. Our focus is on throwing Lola’s money down into this yellow tube. Endlessly.
Our lives are filled with a plethora of valuable, wonderful, worthwhile things to focus our hearts and minds on.
When we allow some kind of Vortex … and often it does involve competition: with ourselves or some other entity or just a competing of the world for our attention…we become frustrated and anxious and we have let the turmoil of others steal our peace.
Don’t.
Take care of YOUR business.
Do YOUR work.
Keep YOUR focus on doing all for the glory of God.
And quit staring down into the abyss of the Vortex.
The bonus?
Not only will YOU live a more peaceful life, but your peaceful life will gain the attention and respect of non-believers.
Imagine that.
Someone who doesn’t know the Peace that comes with knowing Christ will lift his or her weary head up from wasting time throwing resources into the downward spiral and will see you…over there…minding your own business and living a peaceful, productive life…and will want to know more.
Beautiful.
Have a blessed day minding your own business and seeking to live a peaceful life.
You are the fingerprints of God to someone in this world and you didn’t even know it.
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