Happy Monday!
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:23-24).
Another Monday morning! This is usually the day when the working week begins. If we like our work, we look forward to Mondays. If we don’t, it can be hard to start the week. The Lord Jesus spent the greater part of His life working in obscurity as a tradesman. During this period, we are told He grew in favour with God and man (Luke 2:52). Part of His preparation for public ministry was submitting Himself to the rigours of working life. Mark calls Him “the carpenter” (Mark 6:3). He is also called the “carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55). Not only did the Lord Jesus work with His hands, but He knew what it was like to work for someone else. The whole of His life on earth was lived in obedience to His Father. He said He always did those things which please the Father (see John 8:29). Doing this involved working for Joseph in all the quietness and ordinariness of Nazareth.
Many people view their jobs only as a means of making a living – the “I work to live, not live to work” approach. There is a disconnect between their work and the rest of their lives. As Christians, we can also divorce our work from our faith, rather than embracing it as a means of expressing our faith. It does have challenges. Just as we cannot choose our relatives when we marry, we can rarely select the people we work with or the people we work for. In his writings Paul introduces a principle of work for the Christian. It is a principle you will not find in any industrial relations legislation. And it is a simple principle: we work for the Lord. It is an ancient principle. We see vivid illustrations of it in the lives of Joseph, Ruth and Daniel, men and women of God who worked with dignity and joyfulness in the most trying of circumstances. My father was not a Christian, but he was a man whose example of uncomplaining hard work, honesty and care for his family left a lasting impression on me.
Paul was a highly intelligent, highly educated and extraordinarily gifted man of God, and he was also a tentmaker. He didn’t live in a spiritual bubble. His tentmaking brought him into contact with everyday life. He said to the Ephesian elders, “Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. I have shown you in every way, by labouring like this, that you must support the weak” (Acts 20:34-35).
People approach work in different ways. Some people are lazy, others hard working. Some complain endlessly, others love to work. Some are only motivated by money, others by vocation. Some scheme to climb the career ladder in any way they can, others are responsible and considerate. But Paul, as always, brings before us the Lord Jesus, and he simply encourages us to work for Him with all our hearts. And he assures us of the Lord’s personal reward for displaying His Lordship in our daily work.
Happy Monday morning!
