Message Summary: Today we encourage readers to consider how the labor of your hands is a means of honoring God and making our world a better place.

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"Thou shalt not steal" (Exodus 20:15). "Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need" (Ephesians 4:28).

I still wear neck ties, although in many settings, wearing a tie is no longer fashionable and some even consider it old-fashioned. At least, in our context, most in the corporate world no longer wear ties and like most churches less and less do so in our church.

One of my motivations for wearing ties is that I really enjoy my Scripture-themed tie collection which I started some twenty years ago when ties were more popular and I was pastoring. My collection now numbers over 20 and I periodically still add to it. Inevitably someone will observe my tie and make a comment as they read it. I have also on occasion given one away when an individual really likes the message on my tie. I take it off and hand it to him if he promises to wear it!

Sunday I saw Curt, a longtime friend who doesn't always wear a tie, but he was wearing a colorful one that artfully displayed the Ten Commandments. I consider the attempts by the secularists, sadly often successful, to ban the posting of the Ten Commandments, so wearing these timeless rules of conduct on a tie or displaying them in a public setting anywhere is a good idea! A good number of residents display the Ten Commandments on a poster size sign staked in their front yards throughout Lancaster County. Prominent on Curt's Ten Commandment tie is the 8th commandment rendered in the KJV as "Thou shalt not steal" and we include that command in our Scripture text today.

Among the converts in the early church some of them had been thieves (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Consider this comment from the Expositor's Bible Commentary: "From the lowest dregs of the Greek cities, from its profligate and criminal classes — the gospel had drawn its converts. In the Ephesian Church there were converted thieves; and Christianity had to make of them honest workmen."

So Paul makes a command greatly needed in every age and certainly our own age as well: "Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need" (Ephesians 4:28).

It's important to esteem people in regard to their work productivity and how it benefits others. We could all ask ourselves, "How does my work make the world a better place to live?" Hopefully, your answer will bring a source of fulfillment and that's where today's second verse is so informative. Yesterday we asked readers to consider, "How is the work of my hands benefitting others?"

Sunday I visited for a few minutes with Ed and Barbara. Ed told me that he hopes the labor of his hands never needs to be used. He installs fire suppression sprinkler systems. In twenty-six years  he is unaware of a single time a sprinkler system he installed has ever been used. But you never know when a sprinkler system or fire extinguisher may save one or more lives. In our newspaper this morning we read this story with interest.

Now I suppose that could be a detriment to Ed finding fulfillment in his work but such is not the case. Due to his conscientious diligence many thousands of people have been protected in the event of a fire. He's not at all sorry there's never been a fire in a building in which he installed a system. In a sense his systems are being used since they're being properly installed and ready to go if needed.

We may use the term "working with our hands" to mean hard labor but it occurs to me that virtually all we do in some way or another involves using our hands, though in this text it can also figuratively mean "instrument" of performing the labor. Thankfully accessibility is now available for meaningful labor even for those who cannot use their hands, for various reasons.

An advertisement promoting a vacation coldly read, "Your work is meaningless. And you'll die having achieved comparatively little. You need a holiday." Sadly many do lack fulfillment and may even feel their work is meaningless and not useful or good.

Albert Lee writes, "Some people may even find their labor so wearisome that they think it must be punishment from God. This could not be further from the truth. Even before sin entered the world, God gave Adam and Eve meaningful work to do (Genesis 1:28; 2:15). The motivation given for work was not to accumulate wealth but to have something to share with others. From the Biblical perspective, therefore, work is useful and most fulfilling when it enables us to help others. Our work does have meaning, especially when we realize that it is God-given, and that we please Him when we share its fruit with others."

Today we encourage readers to consider how the labor of your hands is a means of honoring God and making our world a better place.



Be encouraged today,


Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, thank You for the physical instruments You supply when You created us. We have mouths to speak, ears to hear, eyes to see, feet to walk, and hands to work. We dedicate our lives to You and to Your service, whether it is related to evangelism and the church or whether it is the work we do in places of employment or in our community. May our labor be sweet in Your sight, worthy of  honor, and a blessing to others so that we all pitch in to make this world a better place to live, until we reach our eternal abode where sin will not be present nor will there be any more sorrow or sadness. And it's all because of Jesus in whose name we pray. Amen.

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"We'll Work 'Til Jesus Comes"  Video  Homecoming Singers  Of course this is speaking of our work for the Lord!

I searched for Christian songs on work and labor but the list had songs of exercise workout music and songs for labor and delivery (birth)!

Several weeks ago we came across this interesting article. Whether you agree or disagree with us regarding alcohol use (from additional thoughts footnote) this article sure gives some interesting thoughts. "50 Reasons Why I Don't Drink"

We asked readers yesterday what Ed did for a living based upon his description that he hopes the labor of his hands never needs to be used. Here are several suggestions that thinking readers emailed us:

1. Something in the military
2. Making bombs shelters
3. Making a gauge that detects radioactivity leaking from 3 mile island! (Of great local significance to those of us within the 10 mile radius.)

Indeed if you think about it there are many types of work that provide a product or service that one hopes will never be needed. In our newspaper this morning we read this story with interest about a product that you never hope you need to use came in very handy is saving a life.

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