Laboring for the Lord

by Travis L Quertermous

From The Reminder, September 5, 2010

Tomorrow is Labor Day, a holiday meant to honor the hard-working men and women of our nation with a well-deserved day of rest and celebration. Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September since the late 1880’s. President Grover Cleveland made it a national holiday in 1894.

The Bible certainly places a premium on hard work and strongly condemns laziness. But while working hard to provide for our families and the less fortunate is always to be commended, we must not forget to work equally hard in the Lord’s service. Jesus Christ emphasized this when he said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him” (John 6:27). Our Lord was not condemning all physical work, but He was reminding us that such is not the chief purpose of life. Jesus emphasized that we must also work hard in the service of God so that He might give us eternal life one day.

Scripture continues, “28 Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ 29 Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent’” (John 6:28-29). The work that God requires of us all is an obedient faith in His Son and our Savior. As we take a day off from our jobs on Labor Day, let us think about how we can labor for the Lord.