October 15, 2023

Passage Read: Titus 3 - Philemon 1
Meditation Verse: Titus 3:14

Thought

Paul wants all believers to be devoted to doing what is good, which includes providing for their own daily necessities and being productive. He doesn't say that they should work to get rich or be devoted to providing for themselves. He wants them to live productive lives, which certainly includes being productive in their work, so that they can provide for their necessities. But he can also mean being productive in their good works, that their every good work would bear fruit, spiritual fruit. It seems we have it backwards today, that we are devoted to working and providing for much more than our daily necessities, and doing good on the side, if we have time and energy left over.

Application

We should care more about doing good and bearing fruit for eternity than about working in order to provide more than for our necessities. It is good to have extra so that we can share with others, but to be so tied up with work that we can no longer be devoted to doing good is not what God desires. The sooner I pay off my debt, the sooner I can cut back my hours and give more time to doing good, while still providing for my daily necessities.