S. O. A. P.

Here’s Your 90 second AM Devotional!

S-cripture:

2 Thessalonians 3:9

We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.

O-bservation:

Earlier, St. Paul had written that when he and his co-laborers were serving in Thessalonica they worked hard, night and day, for the church. Whenever they ate someone’s food, they paid for it.  They did this in order to model the way a “Believer” should live.

A-pplication:

Throughout the course of my life I’ve seen so many unholy models for young people to emulate. The church Paul was writing to had, in some cases, become lazy. Some were sitting around waiting for Jesus to return. Paul said, “if you don’t work, you don’t eat.” There’s an old children’s church song that says, “When we all pull together, the happier we’ll be.” Paul and his associates “MODELED” the way a church “pulls together.” In this passage he puts forth hard work and paying one’s own way. A sense of entitlement should never be the way of a “Jesus Follower.” God will make a way once we find our way. “Holy Models” showing the way to those in need of a healthy pattern for living the Gospel is what Jesus is calling us to.

P-rayer:

Dear Jesus,

This AM I realize people will be watching me. Not that I desire to be watched, but I do desire to be a “Holy Model.” Help me lead people to real life in Jesus. Amen