Work Hard

Articles

Kevin Heaton
07/10/22 - The Zephyrhills Beacon

There are two words in the English vocabulary that are not always very appealing to us. Those words are: W-O-R-K & H-A-R-D. If given the choice between spending our time working or spending our time enjoying whatever we want to do, most, if not all, would choose to just spend the day doing whatever they want. When we hear that something is hard, we want to avoid it as much as possible. We don’t want things to be very hard. We’d rather like things to be easy.

Even though we may tend to lean towards the enjoyment of doing whatever we want to do and having things be easy, we must realize that the things that are truly worth living for take hard work. We can enjoy a nice life with a house to live in, food on the table, clothes in the closet, shoes, even many gadgets that make life a little easier and enjoyable. But in order for us to have any of these enjoyable blessings of life we have to get to work. We can’t just sit around and wait for something to just happen out of thin air. We have to get out and work for our money, work for our food, work to support ourselves and our families. If we are going to be successful, then we are going to have to work hard and with purpose. Above all, if we want to please God our Creator, then we have to get busy with the blessings and abilities that He has given to us.

When God first put humans on this planet, He put them to work. At first, there were no bushes or plants because God hadn’t caused it to rain and “there was no man to work the ground” (Genesis 2:5). So God decided to create a man. God then planted a garden in Eden. Then “the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). At the onset of our existence, God put us to work. He gave us dominance over earth, sea, and sky. He has given us a world full of resources and abilities to live life on this earth. What are we doing with what God has given us? What are we making of the life and time we have been blessed with? To really appreciate our existence and live out the purpose God has for us, then we have to work hard with what we have.

L-A-Z-Y is a word that we like more than the previous two. When we can just kick back, relax, and pass the time without a care in the world, then we are happy and content. While we understand that it is right and good to have time to relax, we cannot spend the majority of our time doing nothing. If we don’t do the work, then we don’t get what we need or want. Read, think, and apply these Scriptures:

Proverbs 10:4 – “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”
Proverbs 20:4 – “The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.”
Proverbs 10:26 – “Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.”
Proverbs 21:25 – “The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.”
Proverbs 13:4 – “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”
2 Thessalonians 3:10 – “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.”
Luke 10:7 – “The laborer deserves his wages.”
Matthew 25:26 – “You wicked and slothful servant!”

So, what are we to do? Solomon answers that best in Proverbs 6:6 – “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and be wise.” We are to get up, get moving, and get producing. Working hard is one of the greatest fulfillments of this life. We are not to be lazy but are to be diligent. And we are not to act like we’re working hard when people are watching, but then once they leave slack off in laziness. We have to know that we are working for the LORD above all and He wants us to be productive. God wants us to work with zeal and energy and diligence. Pay attention to what Paul said in Ephesians 6:5-8 – “obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord.” Paul also talked about this in his letter to the Colossian Christians: “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).

God has given us life on this earth. God has given us a purpose. God is looking on hoping that we will do the work that He has given us to do while we are here. We need to understand that we are serving the Lord. We must do it from the heart. Whatever the job may be. Whatever the task. Whatever time we use. It is all to be done in our love for God. Work hard. Live with purpose. Use your resources and abilities to the glory of God.