Live a Quiet Life

Our latest design is of 1 Thessalonians 4:11 which says, "But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you..."

How convicting, yet so relevant, this commandment is in the day in age in which we live! As I was drawing it and Carly and I were considering each piece of the verse, we realized what a great encouragement and reminder it is to us as we begin a new year.

The verse tells us to "live a quiet life." How difficult this can be at times! Life is full of parenting, working, running a business, and trying to be faithful in all of the different roles we have and the hats we wear. But that doesn't mean we can disregard this commandment. It reminds us to prioritize rightly in light of God's Word and what He's called us to and not give in to the pressure to overcommit to things that are not essential.

Living a quiet life also goes hand-in-hand with the second part of the verse, to "attend to your own business." In a world with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and all spheres of social media, this is no easy task! But again, we can not disregard that this is God's Word.

While this doesn't mean all social media is inherently bad, it is a reminder to us not to get sucked into it to the neglect of greater things. Again, it is a helpful admonition to prioritize our time according to God's Word.

To "work with your hands" is a reminder to us to be faithful in whatever God has called us to as Christians, husband and wife, parents, in the work place, at home, etc. We desire to work hard and not be lazy!

And at the beginning it says to make all of these things our "ambition." The dictionary says that ambition means "a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work." So clearly these aren't things that come naturally or happen without intention, but they are so important as to be told to "make [them our] ambition!" 

We decided to hang a poster of this design on our bedroom wall as a daily reminder to us. It's been so helpful to meditate upon it and seek to apply it to our daily life and the decisions we have to make each day. Praise God for His Word and how living and active it truly is!