Twiddling Thumbs

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. 2 Thessalonians 3:6

There is no association with twiddling thumbs and being a servant of God. Giving orders to a person twiddling his or her thumbs will never get anything done. However twiddling the thumbs and giving orders seem common with the idle Christian. They know what needs to be done but they are an expert at twiddling their thumbs and complaining that nothing they want has been done.

Why is it that most Christians are willing to be the leader as long as someone else does the grunt jobs of his or her ministry? They want the honor of being in the forefront and the recognition for doing great things but when it comes to the work someone else can do it. However with leadership comes the responsibility of seeing that the work gets done.

We also learn that successful leaders have gained his or her expertise from doing the work from the ground up. In every task there are procedures that must be learned before they can be accomplished and as you learn these procedures you obtain additional responsibilities. When you reach a point where you can do every process the natural desire is to advance in life and become the person with the authority of leadership.

No one wants to wash the feet of another person but every church has a job that no one wants to fill. Still everyone wants to start out in the best position in the church without knowing the ropes or how to tie the knots. Again every church has a job that no one wants to fill but doing those jobs no one wants to do is an easy way of being the top dog in a ministry of the church. A person in true leadership demands recognizes that you have to do the jobs no one wants to do.

The bible tells us that Jesus did not come in the role of commander and chief but to be the servant of all. He said if you want to be the leader you had to be the servant of those who follow you. The bible continues that Jesus came not to be served but to give his life as a ransom for many, Mark 10:43-45.

Most people who employ other people have the most difficult task because they have to pay their employees to work for them. That means they have to have a commodity to sell or trade for the money you demand as wages. It is said that if you want to find out how things work follow the money trail. However when you follow Jesus you have to follow the trail of love, for it’s the law of love that compels you to work for Jesus.

To earn food for your table you will do the jobs no one else will do just to keep a Job. On the other hand Christians twiddle their thumbs because the thing God wants you to do is beneath his or her pride. Can Christians be a true servant of God and merely do what they consider one of the better jobs? Didn’t God cast the worthless servant into outer darkness who sat on his talent?

There is no creampuff Job that will put you in the limelight because they are taken by those who are ministering to the needy. We must learn that every job will lead to the forefront of ministry but the forefront jobs are earned. Despite the fact twiddling your thumbs keeps you in the safety of the pews that is where Jesus is seeking the lost. At the same time Jesus is actively encouraging the thumb twiddlers to do something special for his father.

Some ask what am “I,” getting out of serving the church and working for Christ’s objectives. When you want to know what you get from your efforts, better ask if you are serving Jesus? Being a Servant who follows Jesus is a person who serves the needs of another and they in turn being a servant of Jesus follow the same laws of love and will serve your needs.

Being a servant of God’s love, demands that you have the mind of Christ to honor one another above yourself. In God’s plan of salvation Jesus Christ filled a role that no man was willing to do but demanded his life to fill the needs of his creation. In dying on the cross he honored the needs of his father in heaven and the needs of the man who could not love his creator.

Due to man’s sin God could have exacted the payment of his life; instead, he devised a way so that everyman separated from him because of sin maybe reconciled and continue to live through the atonement of Christ. Christ died in the place of man because man was unable to reinstate a right relationship with God.

The love of God demanded that he do something to relieve the state of sin man that destroys any relationship God could have with man. God so loved the world that he sent his only Son to the cross of Calvary to pardon the sins man had committed. Christ could have twiddled his thumbs and said that’s someone else’s Job or what do I, get out of this.

Christ knew what man would do to humiliate him but he went to the cross and paid the penalty for our sins while we were shamelessly committing them. He died while we were turning our backs on him, while we pulled his whiskers from his face and then slapped him in disgust. We called him a liar because he could not be the son of God and yet he did not summon his angels to rescue from the terror of dying as the scum of the earth.

Ironic as it may seem Christ died because of the plotting of the priests of the most High God who were charged with building his kingdom. They wanted to rid the earth of him because he claimed to be the Son of the living God. The High Priest prophesied that it would be better for one man to die than the whole nation perishes. Even from the cross Jesus forgave those who condemned him to die saying forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.

Jesus did not bring salvation to mankind by twiddling his thumbs. On the other hand you cannot obtain salvation by twiddling your thumbs for twiddling your thumbs shows no concern of serving the needs of God that saved you from his wrath.

Remember that twiddling your thumbs is sowing the seed that you will reap on Judgment day. God demands that you stop twiddling your thumbs, to demonstrate that you love him and are willing to serve the rest of your life.

Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent? You must decide, not I; so tell me what you know. Job 34:33

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