Tag: Work

An ant carrying a clump of soil on a dirt surface with a sunset in the background.

The Great Worth of Work

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“Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise. Without leader, administrator, or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest. How long will you stay in bed, you slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest, and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit.” (Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬-‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

If ants were larger, or capable of self-reflection we’d be in trouble. They greatly outnumber us. It’s not even close. And they’re really strong. And organized. They work really well as a unit. They would take over quickly if they could. It’s bad enough stepping on a fire ant hill! Thankfully, God designed them to be not much of a threat. But they do offer an object lesson, one that Solomon uses here to call us to the wisdom of hard work. Let’s take a look.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 20:8-11

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“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: You are to labor six days and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Some of the fieriest conflicts Jesus had during His ministry were over the Sabbath. Throughout much of the history covered by the Old Testament, Israel didn’t really keep this command very well. After the Babylonian Exile, though, and by the time Jesus came onto the scene, they were positively radical about it. The weight of this command bore heavily on the shoulders of the people. We’ve talked before about the Sabbath when God first introduced it to the people back in chapter 16. Let’s reflect again here on what God was helping the people further understand.

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Digging in Deeper: 2 Corinthians 5:18

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“Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

This is another one of those verses I have looked at and studied before, but which I was recently given the lens to see in a new light I had not considered before. This isn’t a new interpretation of what Paul was saying, but rather an extension of its application to another area of life. This morning, I want to take a look at what the ministry of reconciliation God has given us has to do with our work.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 31:13

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“Tell the Israelites: You must observe my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, so that you will know that I am the Lord who consecrates you.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When was the last time you truly took a day off? I guess a better question than that may be this: What does it even mean to take a day off? A day off from what? From work? What kind of work? Maybe you’ve taken a day off from your paid work, but spent the entire day running errands and doing chores around the house. That doesn’t seem like much of a day off. Perhaps you took a day of absence from work to spend the day volunteering with a charitable organization. That felt good, but you’re just as tired as if you’d spent all day at your “real” job. How are we supposed to get any rest if we don’t even really know what it means to rest in the first place?

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Morning Musing: 1 Corinthians 15:10

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“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

What is it that has made you what you are today? Who we are is a complex web of many different factors. Some of it has come by the intentional effort of someone else trying to shape us into one thing or another. Some of it has come by a set of circumstances over which we had no control. Some of it has come by things that we have pursued ourselves. Paul identifies a fourth factor here, and this should be the big one. 

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