For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.
Truth to Learn
Serving God sometimes requires hard work.
Behind the Words
“Labor” is translated from the Greek word kopos, which literally means “to strike or hit something.” Throughout the New Testament it is used figuratively to refer to “wearisome effort, or labor.”
The word “toil” is from mochthos, which refers to “difficult labor.” It refers to a type of work which is greater in effort and difficulty than kopos; that is, the kind of work which produces fatigue because of how hard the work is.
“Laboring” is translated from ergadzomai, which is based on ergon, meaning “work.” Ergadzomai is a generic term for work or labor of any kind.
Nux is the Greek word for “night” and hemera is the Greek word for “day.” They are both expressed in the genitive case, so we could translate this as “by night and by day.” The implication is that they started their ministry early in the morning (probably before dawn) and worked until after dark.
The word “burden” is translated from epibareō, which is made up of epi, meaning “on” or “upon” and the verb bareō (from baros, meaning “a weight” or “a burden”). Thus, we see that epibareō means “to lay a heavy burden on someone” or “to be burdensome to others.”
Meaning Explained
In the previous two verses Paul told the Christians in the church in Thessalonica that he and his companions nurtured and cared for the people there like loving parents care for their dearly beloved children. He is telling them now how hard they worked for the sake of these young Christians. They put a lot of effort into not being burdensome to the church in Thessalonica. In his later letter to the Thessalonians, Paul explained this further, saying:
… nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. (2 Thessalonians 3:7b-9)
We learn from Paul’s letter to the Philippians that they provided financial support to Paul and his co-workers while they were in Thessalonica.
… no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. (Philippians 4:15b-16)
We also know from Acts 18:3 that Paul worked as a tentmaker while he was in Corinth. It is quite likely that he also performed that trade while in Thessalonica to help cover some of his financial needs.
Application
Serving God is hard work and it sometimes requires hard work not directly related to our ministry. When you stand before God, will He be pleased with how hard you worked to serve Him? We can all learn a lesson from Paul’s efforts.
In God's service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved