And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:23-24).
It’s the end of another semester at the local community college where I teach. I enjoy the challenges that each semester brings, meeting new students, and watching the social trends that manifest themselves. There is one social trend that almost everyone has been guilty of at some point in their lives and is a continual struggle to overcome – it’s doing the most minimal effort to get by. Although it seems like a good idea at the time, it often causes more problems than it would have if we had just done our best to begin with.
Imagine, if you will, that whatever job you have – if it’s working at McDonald’s, 5/3 Bank, or even Wal-Mart – God was your employer. Would it change how you did your daily tasks? Would you go the extra mile to make sure you met all the expectations your employer set before you the day you were hired? Would you make an extra effort to be on time each morning? Would you gossip about other employees or your employer while on the clock? Would you hear God tell you at the end of the workday as you clocked out, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things...” (Matthew 25:21).
Paul, in our highlighted passage for today, is reminding us that as Christians we are to do all things as if we are doing them for God. With God, there is no “good enough for government work” standard. Paul wrote to the Colossians that whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men (Colossians 3:23). Everything we do when we are at work we are to do it as if we are doing it for God; while in prison for his faith, Paul called himself an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly (Ephesians 6:20). When others know we are Christians they have a tendency to watch us more closely, scrutinize our actions, and will judge our professed love for Jesus Christ by what they see us do. If our work does not reflect the best that we can do then we are damaging our ability to be an effective witness for Christ!
As Christians, we should strive to serve Jesus Christ in all that we do. This means we should not divide our existence between our Christian service and our everyday lifestyle – the two should be one and the same. Our faith in Jesus Christ should be a very present factor in what we do at work, who we listen to for entertainment, and in our decisions at the ballot box. Even during Jesus’ earthly ministry he taught about making a conscious choice about what we let become our “master.” We can either choose and dilligently seek after the things of God or we must make the choice to be bound to the will of man (Matthew 6:24). Even the apostle John warns Christians that If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: in other words, if we claim to be a Christian and our day to day life does not bear witness to what we profess, we are not demonstrating our faith (I John 1:6).
In a world where taking shortcuts and doing the bare minimum, doing your best can not only bring peace to your soul, but can bring about other benefits as well. Solomon, a man gifted with wisdom that can only come from God, wrote that He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding (Proverbs 12:11). Although there are those that will claim this verse just applies to agriculture, this concept should be applied to whatever it is that we do for employment – whatever your job is that provides you with what you need to live. If you are still a student, then do your assignments as you would do them for God. If you are self-employed, conduct your business as you would conduct it for God. If you work for another, then work for your boss as you would perform the same job for God.
