“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:22-24 (ESV)
Why do you work? Do you work hard at your job? I know, it’s too early for that many questions, but it is a very serious subject. In our society, it is proper to work hard for your boss, or to work hard for your family. These are good things as long as you are doing them by working hard for the Lord. Not sure what that means? Let’s see what Paul says:
Ignore the bond servant (slaves) word. In the King James Version it uses the word servant, which would be more proper. Slaves were a cultural thing, not a biblical thing. Notice Paul says, “obey your earthly masters as one who fears the Lord. . . not as a people pleaser”. When you work hard for your boss or your family are you doing it to be a people pleaser, or are you doing it with sincerity of your heart, as one who fears the Lord? What’s the difference you might ask?
If you work hard in all things for the Lord, you are in His will, just as Jesus did all things as the Father asked Him to do. When God said go, He went, when God said stay, He stayed. We need to have the same approach to our work. Man will manipulate and deceive you. Family will manipulate and deceive you, but God will not. In all things we need to pray and seek His wisdom so we are working hard for Him. There is a huge difference!
