“And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.” (Luke 10:7)
A hobby is something that people do that they enjoy, usually on a fairly regular basis, if you are enjoying what you are doing and being paid for it, it is no longer a hobby, but a means of income, perhaps not your main means of financial resources, but nevertheless, if you are receiving some form of renumeration for your efforts, it is no longer a hobby, no matter how much you enjoy it.
I have never once met anyone that sought employment anywhere with no desire to be paid for their time, and I cannot think of any hobby at the moment that does not cost something, if not financially, then in time spent in it.
But I also have never met anyone who has told me that their hobby is reading the Word of God.
If you are indeed a born-again believer that studies the Scriptures, I would ask you, is it a hobby or are you being paid for your time? The world of the lost would of course scoff at this, yet they pay out large sums of money, usually in the form of long-term debt, to attend places of higher education to be taught a particular set of skills, with one intent, or at least one main intent, to be financially renumerated for those skills. How many of them began that journey as a hobby do you suppose?
I bring all this up because of one verse today, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15) For what reason? So that you can give an account, so that you will be better prepared to answer those who ask of you the reason for why you believe what you believe. But I have found over the years that most who claim Christ as Lord when asked of that reason give little more than cursory remarks, at best perhaps their own testimony of what their life was like before Christ, but as for the One who died for their sins, and the reason He did so, they generally have very little to say.
There is another verse that goes along with what those still in the world testify to, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18) But they will say instead, “The more you know, the more you grow.”
The reason that anyone excels in any hobby they undertake is because they diligently apply themselves to that hobby, countless hours are spent in the pursuit of it. If they are fortunate, they may end up being paid for their skills, some quite handsomely. So then, I bring this question up again, if you are diligently studying, memorizing, praying about, contemplating and applying the Word of God in every aspect of your life, what or how are you being paid? “It is a blessing just to have a copy of the Word of God,” some would say, others “I serve with joy,” and each of these would be correct, but I place before you Matthew 19:29. “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”
The Lord Himself said that we would be paid, we would be rewarded both now in this life and in the life to come for all eternity for willingly getting up on that cross and being crucified with Him, for denying ourselves, for seeking His face and His will above all else in our lives. So, have you been paid? Are you being paid? Are the promises visible in your life? Here my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ is where you get to give your testimony. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” (Heb. 10:23) How has He fulfilled this promise in your life?
