Need steady work? Boy, does God have a deal for you! (Matthew 9:37)

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 9:37 (TM)

"What a huge harvest!" he said to his disciples. "How few workers!

STORY:

If you're into bumper-sticker philosophy, you've probably seen the axiom, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go." For a vast portion of the workforce, that's the best reason they can muster for going to the job each day. According to one poll, only 43 percent of American office workers are satisfied with their jobs. In Japan, the figure dips to 17 percent. In the first century, Christian slaves had even less reason to be enthusiastic about their work. But Paul gave them a way to grasp a glimpse of glory amid the grind. He wanted them to "adorn the doctrine of God," that is, to show the beauty of their faith in Christ by how they work (Ti. 2:10).

A significant and often overlooked way that we serve God is in our everyday tasks. Martin Luther understood this when he wrote, "The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays -- not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship."

OBSERVATION:

Need steady work? Boy, does God have a job for you! There is never a lack of something to do or someone to do it with. No special training is needed. No extra education required. One does not need to relocate. Plus, everyone can keep their present employment (sweeping floors, making shoes or whatever) and still work for God’s company. Amazing isn’t it!

None of us will ever run out of something to do in God’s company. We will never be downsized, laid off, or fired. It is steady, constant work. The only thing that God does require is that we do it with enthusiasm and with a sense of commitment. Oh, by the way, God’s company is an equal opportunity employer and everybody gets the same pay… eternity. Not bad, right?

Then why do so few people “apply” for the positions God has in his company? You tell me. It probably has something to do with this surrender-it-all stuff. It also probably has something to do with the got-to-use-the-“product” idea… that is a requirement. Cannot witness to something that we are not involved with. And besides, God does want us to do everything to the best of our ability. The better at what we do the more glory comes to our eternal employer.

We never know when the harvest is going to take place – today, tomorrow or a thousand years from now – but the time to work is today, right now, right where we live, with those people that God has put in our pathway. Amazing, and the byproduct of God’s work is unbelievable joy… a joy unmatched by anything else the world could offer.

And here is the interesting part… it doesn’t have anything to do with church. We don’t witness to a relationship with a church. We don’t invite people into a special relationship with the pastor or some people. Those things are just extra icing. This work has everything to do with Jesus Christ and very little to do with the trappings of religion.

So, get working. Go forth and multiple…

PRAYER:

Put us to doing. Put our hands to the plough. Help us to put our heart into gear. Don’t allow us to waste another day.