Jump Start # 1675
Ephesians 4:28 “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.”
NOTE: Monday is a holiday and there will not be a Jump Start. You can always read past Jump Starts at: www.Jumpstartsdaily.com
Monday is Labor Day. It’s a holiday designed to honor the American worker. We work hard. Long hours, stressful conditions, make us weary by the end of the day. Work is good. From the first days of the creation, God had Adam tilling the garden. Work is not punishment. Some view it that way. Some want something for nothing, not realizing that it must come from somewhere and somebody has to provide for it.
Work makes us productive. Whether we are crunching numbers on a computer, teaching children, working with cancer patients, fixing cars, selling houses, or preaching, work brings a sense of accomplishment. It allows us to use our minds and hands for something useful. Work develops and using talents that we each have. Long hours in school or in practice have allowed us to be good at what we do. There is a satisfaction from a job well done.
Work connects us all together. There was a time, back in the early pioneer days, when many families seemed to survive on their own. They made their clothes, grew their food, hunted, cut wood for fires. Once in a while, they would head to a settlement to get what they couldn’t make on their own. Things are different now. We need each other. Work has a way of pulling us together. The mechanic needs the doctor, who in turn needs the mechanic. The grocery store needs the truck driver who needs the gas station who needs the oil company. All linked together. We need each other. Work connects us.
Work allows us to take care of our families and fund the kingdom. It takes money to survive. A growing family has a lot of needs. A job provides the income that allows that to take place. On Sundays we gather together as a church and we give as we have prospered. That money helps the kingdom. It takes money to keep church buildings up. It takes money to provide material to teach. It takes money to send things out, such as these Jump Starts. Every congregation ought to be busy doing things to strengthen the faith and teach those who do not know. There ought to always be a need for contributions. The more a church is doing, the more it takes. Our jobs allow us to be a part of that. We are a part of that big picture that a church is involved in because we are helping to keep things going by funding it.
Work allows us to be able to help others. The story of the good Samaritan tells us of a man who had a good heart and the means to help the injured man. Without the good heart, the Samaritan would have walked on like the priest and Levite. But even with a good heart, had he not had some money and supplies, he would not had been able to help the hurt man. Work allows us to be able to walk in the steps of the Samaritan. It allows us to bless others. It allows us to see beyond ourselves and make a difference for others.
Work provides opportunities to share the gospel with others. We are placed in settings with others for long periods of time. Day after day we see them and they see us. Our attitudes, work ethic, language, and compassion are witnessed. Opportunities to discuss the Bible, invite others to worship, to explain things, to answer questions are before us often. What a great opportunity. Many have become Christians because a co-worker took the time to talk to them and invite them.
Work is a place where we demonstrate what we believe in. Honesty, goodness, kindness, compassion are displayed in meetings and interaction with others. Work is not a time nor a place to leave our faith at home. We need it at work. We need to show others what it is like to be honest and good. Keeping calm in a crisis, not losing your cool when things go bad, always being in control of your self is something that many have never experienced. They get mad. They blow up. They treat others mean. The Christian worker is going to do his job. He is working as if his boss were the Lord. He earns his pay because he has worked hard and decently.
Work, Jesus said, for the night is coming, when no man can work. That work was kingdom work. That’s our greatest job. Raising our families to be godly. Nourishing the faith of others. Spreading the word of God. Building hope and trust in the Lord.
Work hard. Work well. Be thankful for your job. Use your blessings to help others
Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work we go!
Roger