January 3 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

II Thessalonians 3:

¹Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you:
²And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.
³But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.
⁴And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
⁵And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
⁶Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
⁷For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
⁸Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
⁹Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.
¹⁰For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
¹¹For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.
¹²Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
¹³But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
¹⁴And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed.
¹⁵Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
¹⁶Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.
¹⁷The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.
¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Devotional

As we begin the labors of this week, perhaps we wish that it were already the end of the week, that we might be facing rest instead of labor. All days come in God's time - the days of rest, the days of reward, and also the days of toil. We should not be wishing constantly to be spared days of labor, but we should face every type of day that God has appointed for us with enthusiasm and a sense of opportunity.

It is God's will that His people, when they are able, should work at legitimate occupations and that they should partake of the fruits of their labors. Those who are able but unwilling to work are not to be humored by others and given sustenance by them. If any will not work, the apostle has said, neither let him eat. Christians should give themselves conscientiously to the tasks appointed for them and should commend themselves to others as honest, reliable, and skillful workmen. They should take pleasure in doing well the work that God has given them to do. All their labors should be as unto the Lord and should be a means of commending their faith to those around them.

For the Christian, the day of toil should also be a day of reward. He should have joy in his God every day of the week, and whatever he is enabled to do should be done to the glory of God.

Welcome to "Think on These Things," a twelve-week daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

We are indebted to P & R Publishing and Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)