Four day work weeks always mess with my mind. I can’t remember what day it is. My routine is messed up as I forget the day and do things on the wrong day. Don’t get me wrong, three-day weekends are great. I’ll take it! But a day off changes things, doesn’t it? With Labor Day week still fresh in my mind, I started thinking about how much labor I put into laboring for me, and then how much labor I put into laboring for Him. Ouch!
Do I commit as much, work as hard, spend as much time and energy (mental and physical) in working for the Kingdom as I do working for my employer? That’s an eye-opener for me. I’m not sure I do even one of those things – commit, work hard, spend time and energy – for the Kingdom on as consistent a basis as I do for my employer. If weighing my work as a disciple to my work as an employee, those scales are definitely tipping to the one who pays in cash and retirement benefits. That’s just out of balance.
Jesus tells us definitively in whose favor the scales should tip. Only with Him it’s not just a tipping, it should be a complete outweighing. We often tend to separate our earthly lives from our Kingdom lives, our employer work from our eternal work. So, what should our priority be?
Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples,
“The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest;
ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Matthew 9:35-38
I love that word, harvest – I feel another canning story coming on…harvest, reaping, gathering. The crops are ready to be brought in. They are ripe for the picking. Jesus’ travels brought Him into contact with all kinds of people – lost, hurting — mental and physical people That’s the harvest Jesus was talking about. Those were the folks who sought Him, they followed Him around and pressed in on Him. Why? Because they needed something He had – healing – physical and most importantly spiritual. Just like we needed something He had – healing.
Jesus’ heart filled with compassion when He saw them, they were lost and needed help. So let me ask this…Do we come into contact with folks like that? Sure we do. On a daily basis. But, do we look at the folks we come in contact with as ripe for the picking? Ready to be harvested for the Kingdom? Do we gather them in? We should, you know. Jesus instructed the Disciples to pray to the Lord to send more workers into his fields. Guess what? We are those workers.
We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we talk to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and your continued anticipation of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Those Thessalonians knew what hard labor really was. They were true laborers, spiritual laborers. Something we’re all called to be. Faithful work, loving deeds and continued anticipation of the return of Jesus each require us to labor. Just like the Thessalonians, we all have fields to work on harvesting. Not just one field, multiple. Remember the scale? If the Kingdom work far outweighs the earthly work, the scales will be balanced. If the Kingdom is our priority, if we live that out, all the earthly work will fall into place. But, if we put our earthly work before our Kingdom work, all work will be like pushing a rope uphill.
And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.
2 Chronicles 31:21
If gathering the crop is our top priority, everything else will fall into place. If we go out to the fields of our homes, our work, our Churches, our schools looking for those to gather in as our top priority, the harvest will be bountiful. Like the Thessalonians, we are to work faithfully to spread the Good News. That means we speak Good News, we live Good News, we teach Good News.
Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do,
whether we are slaves or free.
Ephesians 6:7