“…[D]o your own business.”  (1 Thhessalonians 4)

 

I can remember it like it was yesterday.  My earthy father was working on the car.  I must have been ….well, ..under ten (10) years old.  I was watching my Dad work on the car….Think a Christmas Story when the father is fixing the furnace…it went something like this….”$%&^^%$&##%^^%@@$%%T^!!!!!”  and  “$$%^^^&%$##@@@!@#%^&*)(*&^%$#@#$%^&*”

As I was watching and listening, my Dad asked me, “What’s for Supper?”  and I answered….”None of your business” and went inside and sat down at the ki. I was wearing cowboy boots and grreen shorts with a white line down the side and I think a “STar Wars” Shirt, which would put my age at six (6).

In, from the cold, came my Dad.  He walked up to me and asked me, “Son, what did you say to me?”  and I said “None of your business”  (He thought I was saying None of your business about what I said) my Dad’s reaction? was, Whack! Whack Whack, he paint brushed me as I continued to say “None of your business” as he repeatedly asked me, “What?” “What?”  Finally, my Mom stepped in and said, “Okay, Stub, that’s enough!”  My Mom then washed me up.

Why did I say that to my Dad?  I was six (6) and heard my cousins say, “None of your business” to each other earlier that day. I simply repeated what I heard. I doubt if I knew what I was actually saying to my Dad.

[Important sidenote: I was never comfortable around my Dad after that for a number of years.  But Thanks and Praise be to God, in 1989, along with his son, my ……(Goosebumps, Readers, I have goosebumps)….along with his son, my Dad came to Christ and that man that I knew to be a hard man became a man that cried at Hallmark commercials. If ever there was a new creature in Christ my Dad is that man. Today my Dad and I have a great spiritual relationship. Please don’t get me wrong, I was never an abused child. My Dad was a hard man, but he was also a man that would come into my room at night (I pretended to be asleep) and he would tell me how much he loved me.  There was another time my Mom wanted me to be spanked and my Dad came into my room and spanked the pillow as I cried out in pretend pain.  Readers, I love my Dad and I like my Dad.]

Enough of the mooshy mooshy and back to my point in this article. My point in this article is minding one’s own business.   Solomon the second (2) wisest manbehind Christ, Who is Wisdom incarnate, said, “He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.”  Reader, what do you think happens when you release the dog?  The dog will likely snap at you.  You might be thinking my dog wouldn’t do that.  Aw, Reader, we are not talking about your dog but a strange and stray dog.  Let me prove it to you, what do all parents tell their children concerning strange or unknown dogs?  “Don’t pet the dog”  or “stay away from the dog.”

Well then, another way to say to someone, “Mind your own business” is “Stay away from that dog.”  If you are a reader of my past articles you may have reads that I, as, a shepherd or pastor is suppose to meddle in person’s business. Am i being a hypocrite?  No, it is my business to meddle in yours.  Meddling is my trade.  As a shepherd, I am to look underneath your wool with my rod (Psalm 23).

Minding your own business is  made a Biblical principle by none other than Christ, Himself.  In John 21, Our Lord tells Peter what type of death he shall face when he is an old man. Peter responded by asking about John’s end. Christ, sharply says to Peter, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou [M]e.”  In other words Our Lord tells Peter to  mind his own business and not to woory or concern himself with God’s will for John.

In a Parable our Lord tells us that a group of men worked for a quoted amoiunt of money.  Later other men came seeking employment.  The owner gave the latter men the same amount of money as those that worked all day.  The men that worked all day were upset. These men thought they should get more than those that came later in the day.  However, it is none of the all-day worker’s business what the owner gives the late-in-the-day workers.  Can not the owner do what he wills with his own?  Another lesson in this parable is don’t ask a question you don’t want an answer for.  If the all-day workers minded their own business and the later-day workers minded their own business, all would be happy.

Humanly speaking, if (l)ucifer had minded his own business…if Eve and Adam would have minded their own business, sin would not have entered Creation.  If Haman had minded his business he would not have been hanged with his entire family. If Ananias and Sapphira minded and were true in their business, they would have not died and nbecome an example for those that would lie to God.  If King Saul would have minded his own business, he would not have stepped into the office of priest and then be rejected by God.  If Nadab and Abihu had minded their business they would not have been consumed by the Fire of God’s Glory. If Korah had minded his own business, he would not have been swallowed by the eath along with his sons. If Miriam had minded her own business, she would not have been, divinely struck with leperosy. The example of those minding other person’s business and the dire effects  are many.

Reader,
Mind your own business and not the business of others.