23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,24 knowing
that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and
there is no partiality. Colossians 3:23-25
How
hard do you work for your boss? I saw some statistics that said 85% of
employees said they could work harder at their jobs, and over half thought they
could double their efficiency if they wanted to. I wouldn’t consider that
working heartily. Paul would have some harsh words for the respondents of this
survey, especially for the Christians.
As
Christians, we are to be set apart and
live different than the world around us. This includes how we work. And if
you are in the minority 15%, or don’t have a paying job, you aren’t quite off
the hook.
In wherever God has placed us, in
whatever we are doing, we can view it as our ministry space to work for the
Lord. There will always be opportunities to share the gospel in word
or deed, to be the hands and feet of Jesus, or to show love to our neighbors. Our
Christianity shouldn’t be compartmentalized. It should spill over into all
areas of our lives. Wherever we are, God had a hand in putting us there. Our “work spaces”, whatever they might be,
can be sacred spaces.
In
each interaction as we go through our day, we are encountering Jesus…
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, then he
will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be
gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a
shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on
the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was
hungry and you gave me food, I was
thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you
clothed me, I was
sick and you visited me, I was in
prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did
we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked
and clothe you?39 And
when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King
will answer them, ‘Truly, I
say to you, as you did it to one of the
least of these my
brothers, you did
it to me.’
Matthew 25:31-40
No matter our age, position, experience,
sphere of influence…we encounter Jesus…in the cubicle next to us, in the big
corner window office with a view, in the classroom, on the soccer field, at the
airport, in the waiting room, on the dance floor, in the grocery store, across
the street, on social media. And we have an assignment from God. We can
choose to work halfheartedly or heartily for the Lord. This will be the basis
for our reward, which will come not from earthly men and women, but from God
Himself.
We
are big fans of justice when we are the ones who have been cheated or wronged.
Not so much when we are the offenders. Verse 25 tells us there will be no
partiality. Our rewards for hard work and right living will come from God; likewise,
our wrongdoing will be punished by God. As Christians, our salvation is secure,
but how we live our lives will still be evaluated and judged. Just because we don’t earn our salvation
doesn’t mean we are off the hook for working hard.
We
serve the Lord. We should strive for
excellence in all we do.
So
WHATEVER we do, we should work HEARTILY, as for the LORD, and not for men.
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