By David Pennington

Lately the Lord has been showing me that I have been lazy and not helping my family to take care of the things which need to be done. Everyday after work I come home and get on the computer - usually so that I can do a quick Bible study and then get on with building web sites. Now while this might not sound like fun to you - I enjoy it! Building websites is every bit as fun to me as a mechanic spending his afternoons to restore a ‘50 Chevy, or a kid playing PC games. However, it is because I enjoy working online and designing websites, that I don’t take care of my responsibilities the way I should.

At our house we have a lot of animals that must be taken care of each morning and evening. You see, my family and I live out in the country and have cats, ponies, horses, and lots of dogs (a little too many if you ask me). Each of these must be fed, loved, and checked up on each day - a job that takes a lot of work. Somehow though, I have come to the conclusion that since I have a job (and skills online), I don’t have to help the rest of my family with these chores. Basically, because I sit at a desk all day - I shouldn’t have to work hard like my family in taking care of these animals.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you.

We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” - 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10

There seem to only be two reasons for laziness: (1) Pride: You feel that you work enough as it is, or (2) Self-centeredness: You are more interested in what you want to do than in what needs to be done. (I think that in my case it is a little of both.) Now, while it is true that I do work and provide for my family - I am not “loving my neighbor as myself” when I set around on the web - I am loving myself, period. Am I too tired to work? No. Am I crippled? No. Am I thinking about how I can serve others? No. I am just enjoying something that I can trick myself into thinking is helping mankind.

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. - Colossians 3:23-24

Should I be working at my job only for money? Should my family only take care of these animals because we have to? Well, not according to God’s Word. I find that I am looking at these things wrong. The Bible says that I need to wake up each day and work as though the God of the universe was right there with me (which he is).

Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. - 2 Thessalonians 3:11-13

Remember, when there is work to be done you need to help others as much as you can, work as though you were working for the Lord, and never get tired of doing good. God gave us bodies and we need to use them to do the work he put in front of us.

By Nick F. Shelton

On April 1, 2000, I was enjoying the first day of a week-long vacation from school. At the time, I was 14 years old, and was in private school in America. My dad and I were planning to spend some quality time together this week. We were planning to spend the weekend going on a camping trip to a piece of land our family owned in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.

That Saturday morning I woke up earlier because I was so excited about that day (normally on weekends, I take the opportunity to sleep in late). My father had decided to go to his office to get some work done before we left to go camping, so I went ahead and completed my chores for the week.

After completing my chores, my dad came in the door. I could tell by the way that he came in that he was in a miserable mood. He complained how he was stressed out from work, and he acted like he never wanted to go back to his office again. A little while later my dad and my mom got into an argument, which lead to my dad stomping out the door and slamming the door behind him.

I started to feel at fault. I did not want my dad to stress out just because he was trying to work out where we could go camping. I went outside to talk to him; but as I walked outside, two of my friends were coming up my driveway. They wanted to know if I wanted to hang out with them. I told them that this was not a good time and said that I may call them later that afternoon.

After my friends left on their bikes, I went to search for my dad. I remember calling him, “Dad,” “Dad, where are you?” I listened for an answer. Instead of hearing a response, I heard a gunshot. I listened to my father take his own life.

I could not believe what had just happened. I was in complete shock. After I fully realized what happened, I started crying uncontrollably. I could not help feeling at fault as to what had just happened.

The rest of the day was a blur – I remember finding a suicide letter, I remember an ambulance and police cars coming to my house, and somewhere during this time, friends and family started showing up because they had heard what happened. I tried to speak about it to my mothers and brothers, but it was too hard for me. Friends and family tried to comfort me, but I did not want them to see me like this; I did not want them there; I just wanted to see my dad again.

I cannot explain how much pain the event brought to my life. I was looking forward to this week so much, but in a moment’s time, everything was taken away from me. It did not really care that my spring break plans that were shattered, but it was the fact that I would never see again the dad whom I loved. For the following weeks, I felt as low as a person could feel. After the day my father committed suicide, my world was completely turned upside down. For several days, I was left in a constant state of depression.

One night, I found myself at the lowest point that I had ever been. It was at this point that I thought of committing suicide myself. I opened a drawer beside my bed that contained a knife. When I opened up the drawer, I did not see the knife – what I saw was a Bible someone had given me years before. I began reading the words of Psalms, and they seemed to bring instant comfort to my soul. I remember reading the words coming from the 18th Psalm that read, “You are my mighty rock, my fortress, my protector, the rock where I am safe, my shield, my powerful weapon, and my place of shelter” (Psalm 18:2, CEV). I cannot tell you how beautiful those black and white words looked behind my tearful eyes. Those words were exactly what I needed to hear; they immediately soothed the pain in my soul. My soul was in need of love; and I found that there is no greater love than that which God provides.

That night, I prayed to God truly wanting Him in my life. I had made a commitment to be a Christian a year before, but I had yet to really develop a relationship with God. That night when I prayed, I wanted Him in my life – I wanted Him more than anything else in life. It was amazing how God brought instant comfort to my embittered soul. I was unraveling emotionally and physically; I felt like I was running my life on empty. But after asking God to come into my life, I felt something awaken inside of me. I gained a sense of energy that let me enjoy the blessings that God gives to each one of us.

Ever since that day, I have been growing in my faith as a Christian. I look to the Bible to guide my life, and I enjoy the love and blessing that only God can give. I still miss my father, but now I am comforted from the fact I have a spiritual Father in heaven that loves me more than I could ever imagine.

I am now trying my best to tell others about this great love that has forever changed my life. I wrote a book when I was 18 that uses short stories that explains God’s love and how we can fully enjoy this love. I also have been able to start an Internet Christian community called http://www.boc.org/ that allows Christian to interact and communicate with other Christians from around the world.