Growing up on a farm gave everyone in our home the opportunity to work.  Truthfully, I cannot remember the times I have shared with my students these words:  “When we came home each evening after school, it was not “if” we would work but “where” and “what” we would do.”  As I share these words, in essence I am speaking of the gratefulness I feel that my parents instilled in me a work ethic.  In fact, when my husband and I began dating, it was his willingness to “lend a hand” and work alongside the family that won my dad’s approval for this boy who eventually became his son-in-law.

WORK.

From where does WORK come?

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Why should we find joy in doing the WORK we have been given to do?

These two questions may permeate our mind as we look forward to the upcoming Christmas day.  Now maybe you are reading that last statement, scratching your head, and thinking:  ‘WORK?!  You’ve got it all wrong.  I am looking forward to “time-off my work” and not toward the work I leave behind as Christmas break unfolds.’

That’s fair.  We sometimes believe that any break from school, from work, from punching the proverbial time-clock is not really a focus upon our work but rather a focus upon our free time away from our work.  Nevertheless,

• Hang with me a moment as we look at an important biblical passage that speaks of the JOY found in the WORK we have been given.
• Hang with me a moment as we look at an important biblical passage that speaks of the EXAMPLE found in the ONE who has given us our WORK.
• Hang with me a moment as we look at an important biblical passage that speaks of the way we should approach our WORK with a SERVANT’S HEART.

SO, LET US WORK WITH A JOY-FULL HEART!—

Maybe you are like me and enjoy the work God has gifted you to do.  The joke in my family is that I am NOT the one who needs to work with numbers, and so I count my blessings every day that God has given me the opportunity to work with students and the words they write.  As the Bible states in Colossians, we are to work with all that we have because it is GOD we are working for, not a corporation, not an institution, not ourselves, and not for a government.  We Work for the LORD ALMIGHTY!  Think about that for a moment.

• Our accolades for a job well done belongs to the Lord.
• Our struggles within our job can be shared with the Lord.
• Our promotions or our demotions within our job can be God placing us exactly where He knows we need to be in order to the do the work He has designed us to do.
• Our work will reward us for our work with an inheritance.  The Bible reminds us that all our earthly work is like hay and stubble that will burn away as only the work that honors the kingdom of God remains on that day we arrive in heaven.  Truly, there are no book satchels in heaven, only robes of righteousness!

SO, LET US WORK—LIKE JESUS!—

The Word of God is the story of Jesus.  His-Story!  His-Account of His work on earth.  The Bible is an account of God’s love for humanity.  The life of Jesus is our image we are to seek as we walk through our days, working for God, being led by His Spirit, doing the tasks God has ordained for us to do, all while God molds us into the image of His only begotten Son Jesus.  Oh my, what an amazing thought!  As we do the work God gives us to do, as we keep our focus upon Jesus, seeking God’s will every day, then God blesses us by making us more and more like Jesus!  As the Bible states in John, we are to work because our Father is working, because Jesus is working, and because we are working for our Father.

• Let us remember the holiness found in working for God.
• Let us remember how Jesus worked wherever the work was located and on whatever day of the week the work fell to do.
• Let us remember the way Jesus remained in constant communion with His Father as He worked.
• Let us remember how Jesus:  healed others, cared for others, loved others, fed others, clothed others, and instructed others to the importance of God’s Work.
• Let us remember how our retirement from God’s Work comes on the day we go home to heaven & at the moment when we stand before Almighty God and hear those words:  “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.”
• Let us remember to keep our eyes upon Jesus and work just as we have been shown through His example.

SO, LET US WORK AS GOD’S SERVANT!—

Maybe we should pause for a moment this Christmas season and ponder the only detail that really matters:  God did, in fact, come to earth in the form of man, as Jesus, the baby in the manger.  Since Jesus did—Come—then we are provided example after example to see how we are to work in servanthood, and we are given a clear example through Jesus’ earthly mother—Mary.  I cannot imagine the enormity of hearing the angel of God telling me that the work God has given me to do is carry and birth the Savior of the world.  Totally Humbling Task!  Mary was chosen by God because of the faith she already displayed in her life up to that moment of the angel’s visit.  She was highly favored and highly chosen.  In a way, Father God was her number One reference on her work resume.  God knew Mary’s godly character, and that’s why He gave her this truly awesome task to do.  As the Bible states in Luke, we are to respond to the work God gives us to do with these words:  “Behold, the Lord’s bondservant.”

• May we be faithful to God.
• May we be focused upon God.
• May we be looking at where God is already working and join Him in His work.
• May we be reading God’s Word to see the work He has for us to do.
• May we be praying and listening to God’s instructions His Holy Spirit leads us to do.

Therefore,

Thank you mom and dad for raising me in church and letting me grow up on a farm where I could work alongside you.

Thank you mom and dad for giving me a testimony of work that I can share with my students that I have been given to teach.

Thank you mom and dad for faithfully giving me daily work to do.

Thank you mom and dad for blessing my marriage to a man who also learned how to work within his family at an early age.

Thank you mom and dad for everything you have taught me to do through your work ethic that you learned from God.

In closing,

From where does WORK come?

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Why should we find joy in doing the WORK we have been given to do?

WORK—

It comes from ALMIGHTY GOD!

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It brings each of us inner JOY when we are involved in the LORD’S WORK!