A Heartless Apostle

The Apostle Paul writes this, "For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat.'" This sounds heartless to some modern thinking especially when one considers that God freely gives everything to us whether we earn it or not. Or does he?

When the Israelites where held in bondage by the Egyptians with no hope or means of any kind of escape God answered their many prayers and fought the Egyptians on their behalf. He worked powerful miracles and destroyed Pharaoh's army in the sea without any Israelite needing to lift a hand. Yet once they had been freed and became a people capable of forging weapons and assembling armies, God stopped doing all the fighting for them. They had to fight their own battles and shed their own blood, though God continued to bless their efforts. When they wandered the barren desert and were unable to grow crops, God provided manna from heaven. Yet when they were about to enter the promised land, the manna ceased to appear and they had to provide their own food.

It is not for lack of faith that we work with our own hands or even save a portion of the fruits of our labor. It is not for lack of a heart that many of us find the idea of subsidizing laziness a revolting one. God lifted up the helpless until they could stand on their own feet at which point they were expected to. Sounds like a good plan.