What do you want to do when you grow up?
My grandson recently graduated from preschool. He is now in kindergarten. He was born with Alagille syndrome, which is liver damage caused by abnormalities in the bile ducts. This is serious. Silas has a feeding tube and gets more medicine than you and I take in a lifetime. As serious as this is, Silas faces each day with joy and is very healthy to the eyes of the world. At his graduation, he was asked what he wanted to do when he grew up, and his immediate answer was a policeman!
I can remember wanting to be a farmer when my father was a farmer. I can remember wanting to be a registered nurse, then a doctor, and finally asking God what He wanted me to do. I entered Duke Divinity School and became a pastor. I thought about this when I read I Thessalonians 4:10 where Paul said, “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.” He went on to say, “You should mind your own business and work with your hands,” so that outsiders respect you and you’re not a burden on anyone. (vv. 11-12)
Paul’s letter to the believers in Christ at Thessalonica was a pastoral letter. Paul says he came to them not in authority, but as a father cares for his children. He uses a phrase that may sound abrupt when he says “Mind your own business.” Living a quiet life may not be something we understand. We live in such a fast-paced world with so much going on. It might be good for us to settle down and think about someone who minds their own business and see if we can live that way.
I don’t intend this to sound like I am discouraging children to follow their passions, but Paul may be telling us to encourage our children to follow their dreams with a quiet spirit. Scripture is always relevant. Perhaps we should all consider what life would look like if we began to live quieter.
I Thessalonians 4:11 – “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.”
By the Rev. Tommy Herndon