Willing Workers
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work. But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.”
Nehemiah 4:6–9
Jack Barrymore, an early member of the noted acting dynasty, was a gifted performer, but was known for being extremely lazy even to the point of not caring for his personal hygiene or appearance. Barrymore was in San Francisco in 1906 when the great earthquake hit, and he took shelter in his hotel room bathtub from the aftershocks. When he finally went outside he was forced into a recovery crew by soldiers sent to help with the disaster recovery effort. After his safe return to New York City, a friend made this rather cutting observation: “It took a convulsion of nature to make Jack take a bath and the United States Army to make him go to work.”
The value of hard work may be disappearing from the culture around us, but it is no less important now than it always has been. The Christian who mopes and complains through his job is a poor testimony indeed. Instead we should view work as an opportunity for service to the King. No matter what the task assigned to us may be, it is worthy of our cheerful and diligent labor. It is only when God’s people join together and work with willing hearts and minds that we see truly great things accomplished for Him. Our attitude toward work matters a great deal.
Nehemiah 4:6–9
Jack Barrymore, an early member of the noted acting dynasty, was a gifted performer, but was known for being extremely lazy even to the point of not caring for his personal hygiene or appearance. Barrymore was in San Francisco in 1906 when the great earthquake hit, and he took shelter in his hotel room bathtub from the aftershocks. When he finally went outside he was forced into a recovery crew by soldiers sent to help with the disaster recovery effort. After his safe return to New York City, a friend made this rather cutting observation: “It took a convulsion of nature to make Jack take a bath and the United States Army to make him go to work.”
The value of hard work may be disappearing from the culture around us, but it is no less important now than it always has been. The Christian who mopes and complains through his job is a poor testimony indeed. Instead we should view work as an opportunity for service to the King. No matter what the task assigned to us may be, it is worthy of our cheerful and diligent labor. It is only when God’s people join together and work with willing hearts and minds that we see truly great things accomplished for Him. Our attitude toward work matters a great deal.
Today’s Growth Principle:
The labor that we do is ultimately for God, not for man, and deserves our cheerful and willing work.
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