Labor On

Next Monday is Labor Day!  Labor Day is celebrated the first Monday in September of every year.  Labor Day was established as a federal holiday in 1894 as a holiday to honor the American labor movement and the contributions that workers had made to the well-being of the country.   While I am extremely thankful to have a job and be part of the labor force I am also thankful to be a Christian and to be part of the labor force for Christ.

Matthew 9:37 records these words that Jesus said to his disciples “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”.   Life is hard and it is extremely busy.  And while I do have Labor Day off as a holiday I probably will be doing work around the house, you know, trying to cram in things that need to be done.  But do I labor for the Lord with the same vigor?  If I am totally honest I would have to say NO!  We spend a lot of time doing things around the home to keep things looking nice, mowing grass, trimming shrubs, cleaning house…… you have your own list.  But does it really matter?  We like to think it does but there really is no eternal significance to that work.

That is not the case for the work that we do for the Lord.  1 Corinthians 15:58 states “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”  The work that we do for the Lord has the potential for eternal significance and yet we don’t take it seriously. We work it in when we can.  This has to change. We must make the Lord’s work a priority. Some people like to work alone, others like to work with someone else.  I actually am one of those CRAZY people who like to work but I must admit that on the hard jobs it goes a bit easier if there is a little help.  You have probably all heard the saying “many hands make light work”.  I could not find a verse in the Bible that this comes from however there are many examples in the Bible about helping each other.  The greatest helper we could hope to have is Christ and in 1 Corinthians 3:9 it states that “For we are laborers together with God”, I don’t know about you but I believe that if God is helping us out then there is nothing that can’t be accomplished.  You do remember that he is the creator of ALL!

During this upcoming Labor Day weekend let’s evaluate the work that we are doing for the Lord. If you are doing nothing, get involved, your help is needed.  God has given you a gift and whether you are in the praise team, teaching Sunday School, working on the security team or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.  LABOR ON!

Geoff