…nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
2 Thessalonians 3:8 NIV
Not a Burden
Canada’s combined federal and provincial debt has nearly doubled in the last 16 years, finds Fraser Institute, a non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank, in a recent report, Growing Debt Burden for Canadians: 2024 Edition. The debt has escalated from $1.18 trillion in 2007/08 to an estimated $2.18 trillion in the current year. This dramatic increase, according to Jake Fuss, the institute’s director of fiscal studies, poses significant fiscal challenges for both the federal and provincial governments.
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There is a funny line that says, “Live long enough to be a burden on your children.” It’s meant in fun, obviously, because no parent ever wants to be a burden on their children. In the Christian faith, the apostle Paul uses himself and his time in Thessalonica as he sets out a spiritual principle in 2 Thessalonians 3:8: “…nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, labouring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.” Paul is setting out an example for all of us. There is a dignity about honest work. In a world that too often wants something for nothing, many holding a sense of entitlement, Paul reminds us that in the Kingdom of God, we are called by God to serve Him and others. He wanted his life to reflect integrity, discipline, and a passion to care for people. Followers of Jesus are called to lay our lives down daily before Jesus, who then sends us out to be His hands, feet, and heart. Even in the ordinary, God is shaping something eternal.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley