Text- 2 Thessalonians 3:11- “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, who do not work at all, but are busybodies”
“Living for the weekend” has become a common phrase these days. People have somehow come to believe that the five workdays in the week are just a necessary evil so that you can have enough money to enjoy your weekends, go on vacations, and so on.
Not many people look forward to Mondays; not with the much negativity that has been attached to it… At the close of the work week, you hear people shout, “Thank God it’s Friday”, and when Monday comes, and people are asked on how their weekend was, you hear something like, “Too short, can’t believe it’s Monday already”.
The real problem here is that people do not understand how valuable work is; and in effect, they do not respect the value of work. Work is so valuable; and a sizable portion of the Bile talks about this.
Beloved, life itself is designed to go hand in hand with work. God made it that way, and programmed how body to be nourished and kept in shape by work.
Even medically, a sedentary lifestyle is the cause of many leading causes of death. In fact, some diseases caused by sedentary lifestyle are totally asymptomatic, and as such lead to sudden death.
It then goes without saying that the primary purpose of work is really not wealth and fame; the value of work goes way beyond these. I know popular culture has made us believe otherwise, but we must begin to think of the work we do in terms of what value we are adding, rather than how much we are getting and/or how well we are known or recognized.
In other words, your work takes it value from its purpose, not from the profit it brings or the popularity it gives.
Take for example; a gorgeous supermodel may get a lot of money and popularity than most average women, but if you really think about it, what does she accomplish?
She wears a bikini on a run-way to arouse lust in men and envy in women. She helps some companies get good sales by manipulating (that is, enticing) buyers with her nudity and popularity. If you examine all these well enough, no tangible work is accomplished.
A nursery school teacher (some will prefer to say, ordinary nursery school teacher), who earns far less, and not known beyond her immediate community is doing something more valuable than the model. She is accomplishing a tangible purpose; inspiring, training and building young minds.
That teacher ought not to despise her work, it value it greatly. He/She ought not to live for the weekend, but for the purpose of her work, because it is very tangible and there is great value in it.
Beloved, thin deeply and see the beauty and value in the work that you do. Understand its purpose and take joy in it. And if you do not have a tangible work, go all out and get one!
Have a great week ahead. Shalom!
PRAYER
Father, please help me to understand and respect the value of work, and to take joy in the purpose of my work in Jesus Name. Amen.
Image Credit: theshannonbrown.com