A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Daily
Encouragement on
Friday, May 17,
2019
Yesterday
morning we came up behind this farmer, along
with his wife and young daughter, hauling
some type of plant in a wagon.
Working And
Providing For Your Own Family
Message
summary:
Fundamental in God's
pattern is the
mandate to work and
provide for our own.
The Scripture
teaches us that
failure to do so
amounts to denying
the faith and leads
to a condition
"worse than an
unbeliever".
Listen to our
message on your
audio player.
"If
anyone does not
provide for his
relatives, and
especially for
his immediate
family, he has
denied the faith
and is worse
than an
unbeliever" (1
Timothy 5:8).
Yesterday
we made five
company visits to
provide chaplain
care. Early in the
morning we visited
for a few minutes
with Dave, a
carpenter for SS
Smucker & Sons
Exterior
Improvement, who
was preparing to
head out from the
shop for a long
day at work. Dave
wears the same bib
overall style I
recall carpenters
and farmers
wearing when I
grew up in the
60's in Missouri
and has the
appearance of the
quintessential
working man. I can
imagine that after
a hard day at work
Dave returns home
weary and
experiences the
truth of
Ecclesiastes 5:12,
"the sleep of a
laboring man is
sweet".
About 35 years ago we lived in a community in northern Pennsylvania where I served as a pastor. I was also active in the community and served in a rotation, along with other clergy, as a chaplain for our local interdenominational food bank. We were instructed that we could provide encouragement or spiritual support to those using the food bank if they showed interest, although rarely did anyone have any such interest. It seems they were mostly there for the free food.
I regularly noticed a man about my age (I was around 30 years old at the time) who came to the food bank. He didn't appear to have any disability that would keep him from working so after several times of seeing him I asked if he had a job or if he wanted one. He told me he didn't have a job and he didn't want one. He had been raised in a home with a single mother living on welfare and that was the pattern he grew up with and it was all he knew. He indicated that he had no desire to change.
When you work do you realize that you are expressing obedience to God as you provide for your family? We generally consider the fourth commandment in regard to resting on the Sabbath Day but it begins with this command, "Six days you shall labor and do all your work" (Exodus 20:9). In a commandment primarily known for its teaching on the Sabbath, how vital to also hear the positive command to work.
Today's text states "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family …". Paul is not giving a new teaching here but rather a reminder and reinforcement of a pattern from Creation. In God's pattern the basic source of provision comes from working to provide for our own family. Immediate family would have the sense of parents and children, while relatives would be our extended family as we know it today. This is a pattern we are moving farther and farther away from surely to society's peril.
I recall when I lived in New England a lady gleefully told me that her young son had a baby and that she was a grandmother. I curiously asked, "Is he married? Is he working to provide for his family?" I was surprised at her candor when she said, "Oh, they just don't do that anymore." Well many don't, but I'm thankful many still do. And when enough stop working and providing for their own we are in for real mess, which we are already starting to see the consequences which affect the next generation as well!
"He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever". In the latter part of the daily verse the apostle Paul uses these very strong words of condemnation for those who forsake their responsibility in providing for their own. I believe these words stand today.
Many years ago I knew a man who left his wife and four children for another woman. I recall strongly warning and rebuking him based on this verse. He did not heed the warning and has since walked a degenerate path, cutting off so many who'd helped him early on. Several years ago he was killed in a traffic accident.
Fundamental in God's pattern is the mandate to work and provide for our own. The Scripture teaches us that failure to do so amounts to denying the faith and leads to a condition "worse than an unbeliever".
Today I plan to work hard. I want to fulfill God's command to provide for my family. This is one way I express my faith and live like a true follower of Jesus Christ.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Yesterday
we made five
company visits to
provide chaplain
care. Early in the
morning we visited
for a few minutes
with Dave, a
carpenter for SS
Smucker & Sons
Exterior
Improvement, who
was preparing to
head out from the
shop for a long
day at work. Dave
wears the same bib
overall style I
recall carpenters
and farmers
wearing when I
grew up in the
60's in Missouri
and has the
appearance of the
quintessential
working man. I can
imagine that after
a hard day at work
Dave returns home
weary and
experiences the
truth of
Ecclesiastes 5:12,
"the sleep of a
laboring man is
sweet".About 35 years ago we lived in a community in northern Pennsylvania where I served as a pastor. I was also active in the community and served in a rotation, along with other clergy, as a chaplain for our local interdenominational food bank. We were instructed that we could provide encouragement or spiritual support to those using the food bank if they showed interest, although rarely did anyone have any such interest. It seems they were mostly there for the free food.
I regularly noticed a man about my age (I was around 30 years old at the time) who came to the food bank. He didn't appear to have any disability that would keep him from working so after several times of seeing him I asked if he had a job or if he wanted one. He told me he didn't have a job and he didn't want one. He had been raised in a home with a single mother living on welfare and that was the pattern he grew up with and it was all he knew. He indicated that he had no desire to change.
When you work do you realize that you are expressing obedience to God as you provide for your family? We generally consider the fourth commandment in regard to resting on the Sabbath Day but it begins with this command, "Six days you shall labor and do all your work" (Exodus 20:9). In a commandment primarily known for its teaching on the Sabbath, how vital to also hear the positive command to work.
Today's text states "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family …". Paul is not giving a new teaching here but rather a reminder and reinforcement of a pattern from Creation. In God's pattern the basic source of provision comes from working to provide for our own family. Immediate family would have the sense of parents and children, while relatives would be our extended family as we know it today. This is a pattern we are moving farther and farther away from surely to society's peril.
I recall when I lived in New England a lady gleefully told me that her young son had a baby and that she was a grandmother. I curiously asked, "Is he married? Is he working to provide for his family?" I was surprised at her candor when she said, "Oh, they just don't do that anymore." Well many don't, but I'm thankful many still do. And when enough stop working and providing for their own we are in for real mess, which we are already starting to see the consequences which affect the next generation as well!
"He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever". In the latter part of the daily verse the apostle Paul uses these very strong words of condemnation for those who forsake their responsibility in providing for their own. I believe these words stand today.
Many years ago I knew a man who left his wife and four children for another woman. I recall strongly warning and rebuking him based on this verse. He did not heed the warning and has since walked a degenerate path, cutting off so many who'd helped him early on. Several years ago he was killed in a traffic accident.
Fundamental in God's pattern is the mandate to work and provide for our own. The Scripture teaches us that failure to do so amounts to denying the faith and leads to a condition "worse than an unbeliever".
Today I plan to work hard. I want to fulfill God's command to provide for my family. This is one way I express my faith and live like a true follower of Jesus Christ.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father,
we thank You
for our family
members who
work hard day
in and day out
to provide for
the physical
and material
needs of their
spouses and
children. We
pray for our
unemployed
readers who
want to
provide for
their families
according to
Scripture. We
thank You that
You promise to
supply all our
needs
according to
Your riches in
glory. Open
closed doors,
provide
through the
willful
generosity of
others, and
make available
opportunities
for bartering
and other
means to
stretch the
dollar until
the door for
gainful
employment
opens. May
endurance and
faith increase
in the lives
of our
brothers and
sisters during
their
difficult
wait. As a
result we will
declare
together with
the
songwriter,
"All I have
needed Your
hand hath
provided.
Great is Thy
faithfulness
Lord unto me."
The sun finally broke through late yesterday morning and these children had a beautiful day to enjoy their lunch outside their one room schoolhouse.
Today's
Suggested
Music and
Supplemental Resources
Finally
today:
There are many "firsts" in life and it's a joy to continue to have them even as we get older. Yesterday Tim offered us each a piece of sushi which we both had for the first time. It was good!
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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