SEP 11

Colossians 3:25
Memorise Romans 12:9
“…there is no respect of persons…”

WHAT IF I THEN IGNORE MY STUDIES?

Colossians 3:25 “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.” The Christian employee can look forward to God’s eternal rewards when he does all things unto the Lord in his work here on earth. However, if the employee commits a criminal offence in his work, he must not expect God to protect him, but instead he must pay the penalty for his crime. God is no respecter of persons: whether one is a Christian or not, they must both be punished as determined by the law. In the same way, the Christian will be chastised by God for sins that do not amount to crime (as mentioned before) or crimes that are not found out, for God is just. This applies the same way to the Christian master who ill-treats his workers (whether Christian or not), or commits crimes against his workers like making false deductions off their pay; God is just. However the Christian worker working under an unjust master can be rest assured that vengeance is the Lord’s.

In the same way, the Christian student who does not do his best unto the Lord in his studies, even if he does so in ignorance or decides to be plain lazy, he will be chastised by God. The most obvious chastisement for the academically more gifted student who decides to be lazy will be lower than expected academic scores. Although high scores should not be treated as a reward, lower scores could serve as a good wake-up call for the academically capable student (and will incur the wrath of his parents who can see he has been slacking off). The less capable student who does not try hard enough will likewise also suffer lower than usual scores, and may then drive both himself and his parents to despair, having only himself to blame. Another lesson is that one should not try to be lazy over the work year and then start to pray for God’s help when exams approach! However we must also realize that God may use low scores to guide us away from our current path and towards what He wants us to do, so do not always interpret low scores obtained as chastisement, if you know in your heart you have been faithful.

Thought: How often have I been tempted to be lazy?
Prayer: May the Lord always find me faithful in everything I do.