1 Timothy 4:11

1 Timothy 4:11 “These things command and teach.”

Qui-Gon Jinn to Obi-Wan Kenobi
Yoda to Count Dooku
Obi-Wan Kenobi to Anakin Skywalker
Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker
Yoda to Luke Skywalker

Any fan of the Star Wars franchise will recognize the relationships mentioned above. They are the relationships of a Jedi Master to his padawan (apprentice). Each Jedi master would instruct a padawan in the ways of the Jedi and the Force. For those who listened and didn’t turn to the dark side of the Force, they in turn would eventually become the teacher to a new apprentice. Certain lessons were taught; others were commanded.

Thinking and meditating on this verse reminds me of the Great Commission: when Jesus told his disciples to go into the world and make disciples of all the nations. Here, Jesus tells his remaining eleven disciples what He wants them to do: to share and to tell all that they have learned from Him. In turn, what they tell others will be shared. The same things Jesus taught and commanded them are taught and commanded to us today.

So, for your information: these things command and teach.

Something to think about.

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1 Thessalonians 4:11

1 Thessalonians 4:11 “that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you,”

Hamhock the bobcat knew he was in trouble. Not only had he gotten caught trying to steal a smokehouse ham from Old Man McGillicutty, he had the farmer’s dog, Nose, after him, as well as McGillicutty himself, trying to draw a bead on him with his shotgun. As he chased Hamhock across the farmyard, Hamhock heard something else: Mrs. McGillicutty, screaming to her husband, “Shoot it dead, Ira, shoot it dead!” “Mind your own business, woman!” Hamhock said, as he suffered the pellets of McGillicutty’s direct hit. Hamhock beat a hasty retreat into the Big Thicket.

This was part of the story, “Showdown at the Smokehouse” from “Adventures in the Big Thicket”, a wonderful book of tales written by Ken Gire, illustrated by Elizabeth Miles, and published by Focus on the Family Publishing in 1990. All the stories about the animal denizens of the Big Thicket near East Texas end in a moral based on the Proverbs of Solomon.

In the story above, Hamhock gave into his wild craving for smokehouse hams, despite the danger. The humorous turn here is when he tells Mrs. McGillicutty to mind her own business. How many times have you seen people stick their noses into other people’s affairs? They even do so when their own state of affairs is in disorder or in chaos. Paul here is urging the Thessalonians to lead a quiet life, to mind their own business, and to work with their own hands. In other words, don’t act as the world does. Take care of “the business of life” as the Jews put it, and take care of your own household first (including your family and your livelihood). It’s much easier to take care of the business of ministering to others, when you have taken care of your own house and it is in order. That is what Jesus taught, and what Paul preached.

Something to think about.

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