Jesus the Light 24 Godly Work
The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to care for it and work it -Gen.2:15
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we commanded you -1 Thess.4:11
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow with them” -Rev.14:13
From the beginning of creation, the Lord God has given man work to do. The Lord saw all that He had done and said that it was very good. Giving work to man was very good. What we do in this life will follow us into eternity, whether good or bad.
Most of our waking hours are occupied with work. It is therefore of great importance that the main occupation of our lives be done to the glory of God.
Even the very simple activities of daily living are to be for His glory. 1 Cor.10:31: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
This certainly includes our work. All work and how we do it, whether at home, office, factory, or farm, is to be done for the glory of God.
What we do, why we do it, and how we work is all the concern of the living God. All of our works will be brought into judgment. The Word of God warns us of this:
2 Cor.5:9,10: “More than anything else, we want to please Him, whether in our home here or there. For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by Him, so that each one may receive what he deserves for his deeds in the body whether good or bad.”
We want to please the Lord Jesus in our work. He will judge us for all we have done in this life. The key principle of our work according to the Word of God is this:
Col.3:23,24: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Whatever we do, we do for the Lord and not for men. He is the One we serve and the One who will judge all our works. Christ is the One we are to please, whose approval we seek. He sees everything we do and knows why we do it.
This makes the Christian worker different than other workers. The believer works differently with another motivation than his unbelieving co-workers. The Christian who is glorifying God in his work ought to be the finest worker to be found. He should be the most honest, trustworthy, and diligent worker among them all.
There are three main temptations facing the believer in doing his work for the glory of God. They are: Laziness, Dishonesty, and Greed.
Laziness is a reproach upon the name of the Lord. Since it is the Lord Christ whom we serve, diligent hard work ought to characterize every Christian. Will we lazily sleep in His presence? Will we carelessly sit idle when He is waiting for us to do the work He has given us? No, not at all.
Prov.6:6-11: “Go watch the ants, you lazy person. Watch what they do and be wise. Ants have no commander, and no leader or ruler, but they store up food in the summer and gather their supplies at harvest.
“How long will you lie there, you lazy persons? When will you get up from sleeping? You sleep a little; you take a nap. You fold your hands and lie down to rest. So you will be as poor as if you had been robbed.”
The ants work hard without direct supervision. They know what must be done and go about doing it without waiting to be told. They faithfully work for the benefit of others besides themselves.
Ants do not stop working because no ruler is watching them. The ant does not put off until later what could be and should be done now. They make the most of the present opportunity to work well for the good of all. This is how the true believer is to work.
Laziness is a great sin. The Bible has nothing good to say about a lazy man. Prov.12:27: “A lazy man does not roast his prey, but the precious possession of a man is diligence.” The lazy man does not finish what he begins.
He grows weary of the effort of doing good and quits before the good result is obtained. Gal.6:9: “So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest.”
The lazy person does not bring to completion what he starts. This is not godly. The Lord always finishes what He begins. Gen.2:2: “God finished the work He had been doing, so He rested from all His work.” God rested when His work was done.
The lazy man rests often during his work and it does not get done. If we are to be godly, to be like our God, we must work in the same manner that He does.
Prov.14:23: “Those who work hard make a profit. But those who only talk will be poor.” 1 Jn.3:18 commands that “we love not only with words and talk, but by our actions and true caring.”
Many people talk much and do little. They are lazy. God is not happy with this waste of time. Prov.18:9: “A person who doesn’t work hard is just like someone who destroys things.” If the work is not done well and on time, others will have to make up for our laziness. They will have to “repair” what we failed to do.
It is unloving to others and unfaithful to God to be lazy. To be this way is to destroy opportunities, lose profits, and ruin our own testimony as a Christian.
Prov.25:13,19: “Trustworthy messengers refresh those who send them. Trusting unfaithful people is like eating with a broken tooth or walking with a crippled foot.” Laziness is a great hindrance in the workplace. The true believer, at work, is not lazy. He serves the Lord Jesus diligently, wholeheartedly, and consistently.
He finishes what he begins. He works hard and well whether anyone else is watching him or not. He does what he knows needs to be done without regard for his own ease.
He is full of action at work and not merely empty words that accomplish nothing. Those who lead the church, who serve the Lord by serving the believers, ought to be the best examples to the others. The Apostle Paul was great because he was this type of lowly servant.
Paul said in 2 Thess.3:7-9: ‘You should live as we live. We were not lazy when we were with you. We worked very hard night and day so we would not be an expense to any of you. We worked to take care of ourselves so we would be an example for you to follow.”
Amos, the prophet of the true God, did the same thing. Amos 7:14,15: “Then Amos answered Amaziah, ‘I do not make my living as a prophet. I make my living as a shepherd and I take care of sycamore trees. But the Lord took me away from tending the flock and said to me, “Go, prophesy to my people Israel.”’”
Even the Lord Jesus Christ spent most of His life working hard as a carpenter before He began His other work of teaching, healing, and dying for our sins. All true believers should follow these godly examples of hard work. Laziness is never to be found among Christians, especially not among their leaders.
Copyright 2019 Steve Phillips