- Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) "...but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
- 1-Ecc 2:11; 2-Isa 55:2; 3-John 6:27a; 4-Dt 8: 13-14; 5-Mk 4:19; 6-Eph 1:18
Working hard is generally good. Working hard for the right things is always best. If working hard is just about me (and my family) then it is not good. Scripture is filled with references to this mindset and its folly. "...when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."1 OR, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you soul will delight in the richest of fare."2 And in the New Testament, "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son o f Man will give you."3
This "working" is a mind-game; it is an attitude that must flow from "seek first the kingdom of God" and not seeking first our own "kingdom." This attitude of autonomy that plagues mankind has a strong grip on our hearts and souls. We begin live selfishly because someone else must care for us; growing up is the process of learning to "do it on our own" and not having Mom or Dad always pick us up and carry us, clean up after us, feed us, etc. Wound into this very nature of nurturing children is independence. Yet, God has called us to be dependent on Him. Doing it my way is dangerous. "...when your herds and flocks grow large and your sliver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” 4
So, what should we be focused upon if "the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful?"5 It strikes me that we are called in our work life, to use a heavenly screen, as it were, to filter out everything that is about us. If we are praying before and through our day, then our work can be about Him and our impact for the Kingdom. Sure, we may end up doing the same activities that make up our work day; but, bathing our work in prayer, we might then have “the eyes of our hearts flooded with light so that we can understand the wonderful future he has for us and to grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians.”6
It is all about attitude - about what is in our hearts. New cars. New houses. Hobbies. Vacation homes. Traveling. Season tickets to the Symphony, Opera, to sporting events. All of these are subject to our attitude. God has given us a certain level and ability to accumulate resources. What we do with those resources, what we think about this resources, what we say about them reflect our heart. The question is do these things possess us or are we stewards of God's bounty to us?
Stewardship is a function of the heart - how we think about what we have. We are not called to want more and more, collecting excess stuff, but we are challenged to be content (in our hearts) and use what we have for His glory. Our real treasure is eternal. Work hard to store up treasure there - where the return on your investment is eternal. Hard to beat that ROI.
Fly like an eagle - work for God. Not yourself.
Copyright (c) 2006 by P. Griffith Lindell
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