Written by Eng Kim Leng
What motivates anyone to want to work for the Lord? Could it be the love of Christ that compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15), or the inheritance that awaits the diligent worker of the Lord as illustrated in Matt 25:34-46, or the desire to imitate Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1) who was always busy about the Father’s business and Paul?
Paul in Phil 1:21 says, “for to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” That means that so long as we live, Christ is our focus, our goal, the author and finisher of our faith, the centre of our mind, heart, body and soul. The call for Christians to serve is found throughout the Scriptures. Eph 2:10 says it all – that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.
What Constitutes Working for the Lord?
The Scripture refers to Christians as workers, labourers, servants, workmen, slaves, ministers, even fellow soldiers, conveying the importance of work in our faith. Words describing work such as ‘labour of love’, ‘work of faith/ministry’, and ‘serve one another’ indicate active participation and service. Christians are called to serve using the talents they possess, with Jesus as the ultimate example.
We Must be Working
The church has a clear mission to preach the word of God, to spread the Gospel, to nurture its members in faith, to help them to grow spiritually, to teach them to become stronger in the Lord, to deepen their understanding of the Bible, and to minister to each other’s needs. It is both a personal, as well as collective responsibility. Responsibility and church membership go together, we can’t have one without the other. We are given different skills, abilities, financial and physical endowments and intellect, to serve. Every act of service done in His name has eternal significance. Our actions bring light to the darkest corners and hope to the hopeless.
God is Working with Us
God is with us and helping us as we serve. Paul pleads 2 Cor 6:1, “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain,”. The scripture in Rom 8:31 tells us, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” It reminds us that God is on our side, working for our good.
In 1 Cor 3:9, Paul affirms, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.” Some translations say we are God’s co-workers. He will reward us. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor 15:58.
Work While It Is Still Day
Jesus knew that His time on earth was short and that He had to give Himself wholeheartedly to the task assigned to Him while there was opportunity. Thus, in John 9:4, He says, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” This statement is a strong admonition for every Christian to work while there is time and opportunity.
Let us be busy while we are still able, when situation is favourable, when we are young, and when strength permits. Ecclesiastes 12:1 gives a sound advice, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them.’”
Work while we can, not when the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.
Work to Redeem the Time
Ephesians 5:15–16 exhorts, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Colossians 4:5 expresses a similar exhortation: “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of time.” The scripture uses walking to refer to how we live our life, how we conduct ourselves and that includes the work we do.
The need to walk circumspectly is important in redeeming the time. The idea of redeeming is to take back what is yours, and not to waste it, or the unfruitful use of it. Not everyone has the same allotted time to live. Some have more and others less. Psalm 90:10 is a well quoted verse on the life span of a man, “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,”
Seventy or eighty years are not long, and the Psalmist knew it, thus he pleaded with God to help him to value time. In v 12, He prays, “… teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.” A wise heart pursues that which edifies, seeks after righteousness, abounds in the work of the Lord, and in so doing, glorify God.
Work as a Display of Faith
James says that without work, faith is dead. The two are inseparable. He challenges those who profess that faith alone saves, “Show me your faith without your work and I will show you my faith by my work,” (James 2:18). He reasons, that if anyones believe in the one God he does well; the devils also believe, and tremble.
Galatians 5:6 admonishes, “… in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love.” Christianity is a doing religion. It should be seen and not hidden like a candle in a bushel (Matt 5:15). We are to be doers of the word (James 1:22). Doers work, doers are actively serving, doers do not wait for others to do the task, doers do not procrastinate, do not shy away from work or ignore requests for help; doers walk the talk, and go the extra mile.
Work Out Our Salvation
We are required to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). Work is a demonstration of our love and faith (John 14:15), and our obedience (Heb 5:9). The Christian life is one of service, and a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1, “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service”). It includes surrendering our heart to God. James teaches that “…faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead … by works faith was made perfect…a man is justified by works, and not by faith only…” James 2:14-26. Works of obedience are required for salvation.
What Can We Do?
We work together, putting what we have been supplied, into effective work, with every one of us doing our part, for the growth and edifying of the church. Eph 4:16 exhorts, ‘from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.’
Jesus displayed His love unlike any other, dying for you and I. By His death we are redeemed from eternal condemnation. We must not take this gift for granted. The field is white unto harvest and the labourers are few. Christians have much to do. To be busy about the Lord’s work is good and we do them heartily as to the Lord, knowing that from the Lord we will receive the due reward (Colossians 3:23–24). Let us rise to the occasion and do more in making the church a vibrant, growing and God glorifying church.