In our world and culture, where hard work is valued so much (we even give over a whole day on the civic calendar to celebrate labor) and our "busyness" seems to escalate continually, Paul's admonitions to the Thessalonians seem a bit obvious. But even in our lives today, when we have more and more devices to save time, and still seem to have less and less of it, people yet find ways to be busybodies in the midst of all their busy-ness. In Paul's day, some members of the Christian community were being idle because they knew the Lord was returning in glory very soon. Why bother to work?    So  they  turned   their attention to meddling in the lives of others. Theirs was a rather complacent "I've been saved" attitude in the face of the great tumult of the end times described by Malachi and Jesus in the Gospel. These days, we have no such potent notion of the Lord's imminent return, but Paul's message, which has an echo both in Malachi and Luke, is still pertinent for us. We must keep on doing our daily work, and persevere in it, consecrate it all to the Lord, and tend to being faithful until the time of his return.
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