A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Monday,
September 3, 2018
"Labor
Day Message"
Message
summary: Today as you work
remember the words of the Scripture and
see your labor as an act of faith and
obedience, indeed recognizing the
sanctity of work.
Note:
Podcast not prepared for this message
"Six
days you shall labor and do all your
work" (Exodus 20:9). "Make it your
ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind
your own business and to work with
your hands, just as we told you, so
that your daily life may win the
respect of outsiders and so that you
will not be dependent on anybody" (1
Thessalonians 4:11,12). "For even when
we were with you, we gave you this
rule: "If a man will not work, he
shall not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Here in America most are off work today although we call it Labor Day. The fourth commandment is best known for the commandment to rest on the Sabbath but actually it also has a command to work as seen in the first text: "Six days you shall labor and do all your work" (Exodus 20:9). In the course of our work as business chaplains we regularly affirm people who are hard at work. God has ordained work in His created order. One of the great curses on our land brought on by misguided liberal "compassion" is the many who have become dependent on the government rather than taking responsibility for their own lives. Responsibility includes hard work, refraining from destructive behavior, and being patient in the process of delayed gratification. Efforts to address the problem by massive dependency were well-meaning (for some) but look at the colossal monster that it has created! Now we have several generations that have no clue as to how the economy works nor do they recognize their own personal responsibility in their need to work. Our two texts from Thessalonians contain some essential teaching about work. Paul began the church in Thessalonica and the record of this rocky start is recorded in Acts 17:1-9. The fledgling church survived and the Holy Scriptures contain two letters written by Paul to these believers. Both letters contain a thought somewhat unique in Paul's writings. In
Paul's second letter to them he develops
this thought more fully in chapter
3:6-15. Possibly it was due to a problem
that needed to be addressed in
Thessalonica because of a mistaken view
of the Lord's return. Some felt they no
longer needed to work since they
believed the return of the Lord was
imminent.
Paul's
statements are so needed today in
today's culture where "the world owes me
a living" mindset affects far too many.
However, his views would surely seem to
be lacking compassion by many, who have
no problem with dependency on the
government. Today the concept of
consequences is foreign to many, who
have been conditioned to believe the
government should intervene in every
human condition and fix it. Indeed many
of the immediate consequences of sinful,
irresponsible behavior have been
temporarily removed. But the Scripture
warns us, "Do not be deceived: God
cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he
sows" (Galatians 6:7).
Paul reminded them of the value of work and the consequences of not working. Notice that in both portions Paul was merely reminding them of his teaching while he was with them. We believe this indicates that this teaching was an integral part of Paul's ministry. He modeled it himself when he made tents in Corinth for a time. Read the text again. It's from God's holy Word and just as much a part of the inspired Scriptures as the rich "theological" portions. As you work (or return to work tomorrow) rejoice in this act of obedience to God. And pray that our country will return to its godly foundations, including a Biblical worldview of work. Today as you work remember the words of the Scripture and see your labor as an act of faith and obedience, indeed recognizing the sanctity of work.
Be
encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily
prayer: Father, help us to view work as
a blessing from You that gives us
opportunity to participate in gathering
adequate provisions for our family as
well as making a positive difference in
our work setting. We seek to overcome
challenges in the workplace and are able
to do so because we do our work
heartily, as for You, Lord primarily. We
seek to be just and diligent in our work
not just when we're being observed by
our supervisors or fellow-employees, but
we remain aware that You are always
watching over us. We don't resent or
dwell on the negatives of our work or
workplace, but recognize how we serve
You well when we work with a cheerful
heart. And we can do so knowing that our
reward is not just the weekly paycheck
but most importantly the glorious
eternal inheritance we receive in
heaven. Keep us faithful we pray. Amen.
Rain,
Rain, Rain!
We
finished our final workplace visit Friday
afternoon around 1:00 PM. As we left the
company it began to rain. For the next
four hours we had a pounding rain as a
storm system hovered over our area. We
snapped this photo of a news report about
5 PM reporting 10 1/2" rain. Our
rain gauge holds 7 inches and was empty
when the storm started but was overflowing
for several hours. The weather man
reported that 14 inches registered on a
digital rain gauge from one home owner's
residence!
This
graphic really shows the disparity in
rainfall
Video of heavy rain
and flooding in front of our home
8/31/18
(30 seconds) Thankfully we, unlike many
others in our area, had no flooding in our
basement. We only had a little puddle,
likely caused because that morning a
Comcast crew had run a new underground
cable into our home and forgot to attach a
drain pipe next to our downspout which
carries the water away from our home.
A
small mobile home park was severely
impacted. This is a Mennonite Disaster
Relief team already out to assist with
cleanup on Saturday morning.
You
can see the high water mark on this mobile
home which has been condemned.
This
area has no significant streams nearby,
the flooding was entirely from the heavy
rain which came down so fast over a 4 hour
period it nowhere to drain. The sign is
next to the mobile home pictured above and
a reminder. May it bring comfort to the
owner. The adults were cleaning up while
the children were enjoying the streams of
water.
Charlie
and Cindy are friends through our chaplain
work. Charlie and their pet border collie,
Rebel, had to be rescued by boat as the
water was up to his porch seen in the
background.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"I'll Worship
Only At The Feet Of Jesus" Video
Gaither Vocal
Band
Finally
today:
On Saturday
evening we joined our long-time friends Galen and Nancy
Martin for an outdoor picnic which included a lettuce
salad from the Martin's garden and Indian food prepared by
visiting guests from India. Peter and Helen Silumula
operate a ministry in India called DAWN ministries. It was a blessing
to hear both the report of mission work currently taking
place in India as well as some seventy year old letters
that Galen read concerning the work at that time.
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