The jobs of the working saints are for their livelihood. Whether a man is in a high position or in a low position, whether he eats well or not, he is always busy working for his livelihood. However, we are children of God, and we belong to God. God knows what we need. Then perhaps some people may say, “Since this is the case, does it mean that I do not need to do anything? Maybe I should serve the Lord full-time.” We should not think this way. God would never want a slothful person to serve Him. Brother D. L. Moody, a great evangelist in America, once said that he had preached the gospel for several decades and had seen thousands and millions of people get saved, but he never saw a lazy person get saved. Hence, God does not approve of a slothful person. The more diligent a person is, the more God likes him. God takes care of our needs, but He does not want us to be slothful and idle.
Saul of Tarsus was one who greatly persecuted the churches and did away with many believers. One day he obtained from the high priest, who was the highest authority in Judaism, the authority and commission to go to Damascus to bind all those who called on the name of the Lord Jesus. According to the record in the Bible, while he was on the way, a light from heaven beyond the brightness of the sun suddenly shone around him. Then he fell on the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:12-14). In ancient times people used livestock such as a horse or a camel to pull a cart. When the horse or camel was not obedient, the goad, which was yoked to the plow, would subdue the animal. The Lord’s word here signifies that Saul had already been yoked to the plow and had no choice but to take the Lord’s yoke obediently for the carrying out of the Lord’s commission. Once his heart was turned, he was saved. In this way the Lord gained Paul, who was a capable one. He does not want slothful ones.
God is responsible for us, but we must do our part. Human life needs to be supported by food, clothing, housing, and transportation that it may be sustained to fulfill God’s purpose. Therefore, the Lord promised us that we do not need to be anxious about what to eat or what to drink. Rather, we only need to fulfill our duty to work and to make a living, although we should not pursue after the world and follow its trend. God will take care of us. We only need to seek His kingdom and His righteousness, which is the church today, and His center, Christ. Then God will add to us all that we need. This is a promise.
When some saints first got saved, they loved the Lord very much and pursued the Lord. Perhaps they were still students at that time. But gradually, after they graduated from school, began to work, got married, and had children, they could not keep up with the church life. Previously both the husband and the wife lived in the church life, consecrating themselves to the Lord and pursuing the Lord, and everything they had was for the Lord. But later they had children, one after another, and their burdens in life increased. So they started to work more in order to increase their income, to raise their standard of living, and to prepare funds for their children’s education. It is not wrong for the young people to plan for their futures and to establish their families, but we cannot ignore the fact that often there are many seductive and corrupt lusts hidden in their plans for establishing themselves. This is similar to what Peter calls “the corruption which is in the world by lust” (2 Pet. 1:4).
Satan does not snare people all at once. Rather, he seduces man step by step. For instance, suppose you are buying a car. You may first buy a locally manufactured car. Then after two years you may see someone driving a French car, and you may want to buy one as well. Then a few years later you may become dissatisfied with the French car and want to change to a German car. As another example, you may look at your house and think that it is too small and too old. You may think that if you do not buy a new one, you should at least remodel the old one. In this way the lust of the world enters our living little by little until it is hard to go back. This is what we must be alert to, be cautious and careful of, and even escape.
In America we often observe that some couples who are foreign students usually live a simple life at the beginning. But some time later, you may go to their house and find that their life is not simple anymore. The sofa in the living room may have been replaced with a new sofa costing two to three thousand dollars. The kitchen may be wide and bright, and the car in the garage may be the latest model. Where did they get the money from? It came from a bank loan. A few months later, however, they may suddenly lose their jobs, and in less than a week, they may even lose their house because the bank may take away everything. This is very common in America. This is the corruption that is in the world by lust and which is always corrupting people.
Today in this materialistic world there is endless temptation. When man falls into the enjoyment of an endless number of material things, he heaps corruption upon himself. The lust that 2 Peter 1:4 speaks about is the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the vainglory of life. If what your eyes see is a nice car, where your body lives is in a gorgeous house, and what you think about in your heart is how to be successful, then eventually you will fall into the corruption of lust. There are two things that enable us to overcome all these temptations: one is the inward life that has been granted to us by God’s divine power, and the other is the outward promise that as long as we fulfill our duty, God will add to us whatever we need. When we are students, we should study well, and after we graduate, we should work to support our family and our living and to take care of our children. This is enough. We should not be covetous. All covetous people are pitiful. We should not pursue material things because in that pursuit there may be an insatiable covetousness and the lust to covet. Covetousness leads to many lusts and eventually results in corruption.