Meaning And Fruitful Labour In Christ

Meaning And Fruitful Labour In Christ

Preacher Huijun - 1 May 2021

Weekend Devotion: Meaning And Fruitful Labour In Christ

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Today, 1st of May, is Labour Day in many countries. As we ponder upon the meaning of “labour”, let’s look at what the Bible says about labour, diligence and laziness.

 

After the fall of man, he lost God-given purpose for labour.

First, we know that when God first created man, He put man to work. <Gen 2:15> tells us: The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Thus, we see that man was created to be an ‘active’ living being, called to do purposeful work, to serve God for His glory. In other words, man is not created without meaning in life. However, after the fall of man, he lost the purpose God has given him. Thus, man either wastes his life away and has no motivation to work, or he focuses all his energy to chase after earthly accomplishments that are only fleeting. When man is separated from God, he no longer knows how to live according to God’s will. Therefore, he either becomes too lazy or too busy.

 

Enemy of diligence: “Sloth”

Before we talk about labour in the Lord, we must beware of one key enemy of diligence, which is “sloth”. In fact, fallen man is born with a lazy nature. There could be many reasons for sloth. Perhaps some people lack confidence and find something too hard for them so they refuse to do it, or they tried but got discouraged when they met problems. Perhaps they are still doing the usual stuff, but there is a lack of motivation to improve and they are satisfied with status quo.

Whatever it is, sloth is in fact a sin, which the Bible has warned against, especially in the book of Proverbs (e.g.: Prov 6:9-11; 10:4-5; 12:24; 13:4; 19:15; 20:4; 24:30-34). Behind sloth, there could be selfishness or a lack of faith. The sluggard does not wish to move or work, but he just wishes to be comfortable, sleep and play as he pleases. Even if the sluggard desires riches, he either does not work for it and thus cannot acquire it, or he simply craves for easy money or quick success. He does not really bother about his God-given roles and responsibilities. Neither does he care about how his laziness may affect God’s glory or inconvenience others. His main concern is not to submit to God or to love others, but to gratify his flesh.

Also, sloth could be associated with unbelief. The slothful does not have the faith to try and so he ends up not doing anything. And because he won’t even want to try or get out of his comfort zone, he may even give ridiculous excuses, such as saying, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!” <Prov 22:13> Sometimes, the sluggard may also abuse God’s grace by saying that since everything comes from God’s grace, just leave everything to God, and man does not need to do anything.

Of course, sloth will come with a price, for the lazy and wicked servant would finally be thrown outside and whatever he has would be taken from him <Mt 25:26-30>. Certainly, we do not want to end up like the sluggard where we lose our blessings and crowns as well as opportunities to bless others.

However, we need to note that it doesn’t mean that if a person takes a rest, then he is lazy. Yet, if we are not slothful, we will know that even as we rest, that rest is to give us energy to press on in the work that God has designed for us.

 

Contrary to sloth, our labour for and in the Lord will be rewarded.

Sure, it is not easy to be diligent, it involves tough efforts, but the principle set by God is: “The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops” <2 Tim 2:6> <1 Corinthians 15:58> also says, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

Indeed, those who are willing to labour in the Lord and for His purpose, will receive fruits. If we are faithful in doing what the Lord has entrusted us, we will reap the harvest when the time is right. Our labour in Christ will not be in vain. Conversely, when we labour outside of God, even if there are some temporal fruits, it is not beneficial to our relationship with God. In fact, more than what we can achieve for God, He is more concerned about our relationship with Him and how much we rely on Him. When we labour without relying on God, it will either make us proud or it will make us burn out, because we are only drawing energy from ourselves. But the more we labour ‘in the Lord’ and reap the rewards from Him, the more we will enjoy the labour, instead of feeling bogged down by it.

 

We need to be clear about what God wants us to be diligent in.

We must know that being busy does not mean that we are doing God’s will, and busyness does not guarantee fruits. A person may be doing many things, but he has to ask if what he is doing are really what God wants him to do and whether they matter to God?

Therefore, diligence is not to ‘over-work’, but do the most important work. God is not so much concerned about our productivity in ‘doing many things’ than He cares about us doing the ‘right thing’, which leads to God being glorified and men being edified. This doesn’t mean that we can only do ‘spiritual things’, but even as we labour for earthly matters, we should reflect if we bring God into the work, where we consult Him on what to do and how to do it, where we rely on Him when we face certain difficult tasks our boss gave us, where we seek His wisdom in teaching our children, where we find rest in Him after a day of labour, etc? Usually, the things that God wants us to do involve the gifts He entrusted to our stewardship. So what are the roles God has placed you in and the gifts and resources He has given you? Have you been using them faithfully for God? In our labour, we have to ask: Are we busy over the right things?

If you often find yourselves not having ‘enough time’ and feeling ‘burned out’, you may want to reflect if you have been busy over certain things which you don’t need to. Perhaps there are certain things which you can cut down, such as excessive care for details in churning out a report or in managing home cleanliness, or excessive leisure, etc? However, if you are busy with what is pleasing to God, He will also supply you with the needed strength to continue the labour. Importantly, we get busy not for our own glory or sense of achievement, but to glorify and obey God.

 

Many people are overcome by sloth or they only labour in vain because they do not understand God’s plan in their lives. But I pray that all of us can restore God’s purpose for our lives and labour meaningfully and fruitfully for Him!

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Preacher Hui Jun
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Huijun serves as Secretary of The Blessed RUN Ministries. She is also the Preacher at The Life Church and Missions (Singapore). She graduated from Singapore Bible College and currently lives in Singapore with her husband, Chengji.

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