TITLE: Workin' Hard or Hardly Workin'? By Kim Thomas 09/15/06 |
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The Discovery Channel is one of our family’s favorites. On average we watch more programming on that television channel than any other.
“Dirty Jobs” is one of our favorite programs. The show features a host, Mike, who goes around the country learning about all the various jobs that make life easier for the rest of us. We’ve watched Mike clean out storm drains in LA, exterminate cockroaches and termites, and catch baby alligators with his bare hands…you name it and Mike has done it. I’ve often said, “Hmmm…I wondered how they did that!” The show is entertaining and educational. And those people work hard.
Even my six-year-old son loves the show. As a matter of fact, he’s been found to experiment with his own “dirty jobs” in our back yard.
One day, he put on his “work boots”, which are actually last year’s snow boots, then headed outside to his “worm hole.” (The worm hole is an area of our backyard that is not landscaped). He poured water into a hole he dug with a big spoon, and, well, worms.
When he came to the back door, looking like he’d just surfaced from a coal mine, I asked him what he’d been doing. “I’m doing Dirty Jobs, Mom.” He then proceeded to explain to me every step in the process of digging for worms. He was working hard.
I don’t think I found any worms in his pockets when I did the laundry.
The Apostle Paul, in Colossians 3:23 and 24 tells us, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Of course the Dirty Jobs show does not tell us whether any of those people are Christ-followers, but for me, the show does hold up a standard of hard work. As a Christ-follower myself, I am challenged to examine my own perspectives on working for Christ, and what I’m willing to do for Him.
When my husband and I answered the call to serve God as missionaries in Lithuania, in my self I was scared to death. But at the same time, there was an abiding sense of peace that flooded my heart and gave me an excitement for what might lie ahead. God put people in my path who could teach me what I would need to know about living in a different country and culture. And of course, there would be things I would have to learn the hard way…just by being there and living among new people. I knew it would be hard work, but I was ready for the challenge.
Like Paul says in Colossians, I knew there was an inheritance from the Lord. Maybe here, but likely in eternity.
God’s call to work for Him is highly individualized. He doesn’t sort us out randomly. He calls each of us to a particular task and then provides what we need to get the job done. Yes, sometimes it’s on-the-job-training. But He is a patient teacher and gives us no more and no less than is required for us to understand what needs to be done and to accomplish His will. When He calls, He equips.
As I worship Christ, I become intimate with Him in ways that will transform my life. As a worshiper, I will be drawn to walk with Christ, to know His word and to learn to hear His voice. Once I’ve walked with Him a while, I will be drawn to work for Him. I cannot sit idly by and let those around me fall. As a Believer, my work for Christ is intentional -- to bring others to Him and to share His love with those who desperately need Him.
How about you? Are you workin’ hard for Christ, or hardly workin’? Its time to pick up your spoon and get with it! You might be called upon to find your own “dirty job.” But the rewards are out of this world!
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