Do You Have God's View Of Work?

I ask you to take your Bibles now and turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. You follow as I read our text for this morning, verses 6 through 12. Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command, If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busy bodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own bread. let's pray father we pray that you would help us now to understand this text of scripture sometimes lord your scripture takes us to heights that we never dreamed of in other times it talks to us about the mundane everyday things of life, teach us at least this much this morning, that all of life from the highest to the lowest must be lived under the Lordship of Jesus, and that includes our work. Help us now to understand this for the glory of our Lord.

Help us, Lord, to take to heart what you have told us in this text. help us we pray for your glory and our good in Jesus name amen I got my first real job in the summer of 1970 Now that's ancient history to just about everybody here. I got my first real job in the summer that I turned 15. It was working for Warren Brown. Warren Brown had a business, a landscaping business, just outside of our little village. and he was a highly respected member of our community.

He also raised Hereford cattle. If you don't know what Herefords are, they're the red and white ones, okay? And he would display those. He would go to all the state fairs in the Midwest and display those cattle. So every day we'd come to work. We'd start with cleaning up after the cows and then move on to the landscaping jobs, either working in the nursery or going on landscaping jobs.

We worked 9 to 12 hours a day for 6 days a week. in the heat of the summer. It seemed kind of hard to this 15-year-old. On top of that, my boss was as mean as a snake. His way of motivating workers was to ridicule them if they made a mistake in front of everybody else. And so after a while, I'd had it. I wasn't going to work anymore.

I said to my dad, I'm not going to work. I told him I'm not going to work. Well, he told me differently. In fact, he essentially told me, you agreed to work for Mr. Brown, and you're going to work for him because you said you would. And the only way you're not going to work is if you're sick.

And that was defined as having a fever or vomiting or if blood was showing up somewhere. Otherwise, you're going to work. So I worked for him for the next three years. now was my dad right in what he did was he right in doing that to me I believe he was and I'm thankful for God that he did do that to me because he taught me some lessons here's some lessons that he taught me God expects his blood bought people to work to work hard and to work to the best of their abilities he also taught me that God expects his people to rid themselves of all habits of laziness.

Now, was he right? Why do I think my dad was right? Why do I think he was right in saying that and doing that Because that the lesson God has for us in our text this morning That exactly what God says This text is one of the most powerful passages on work in the entire Bible It really drives it home. And in this text, our Heavenly Father seeks to motivate us to give ourselves to work.

As you look at it, God says one of the most important virtues you can display to an unbelieving world is to be a faithful, hard worker. This text says, my people must have the reputation for work and laziness must not be named among them. So let's take a look at this passage. I'm going to read it again, just so we get it. Now we command you brothers in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idolous and not in accord with the tradition that you receive from us for you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us because we were not idle when we were with you nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it but with toil and labor we work night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you it was not because we did not have that right but to give to you in ourselves an example to imitate for even when we were with you we would give you this command if anyone is not willing to work let him not eat for we hear that some among you walk in idleness not busy at work but busy bodies now such persons we command and encourage in the lord jesus christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living okay now there's a train coming all right and i'm see if if you can hear me great but we'll see all right now in this part of the book you see the apostle paul moving from distress to disorder that is to say in this little book in the for all the way up to this point he's talked about the distress of persecution the the hardship the difficulties that were part of their lives and he emphasized that by talking about the hope they have in the midst of their distress in the coming of the Lord Jesus and understanding that coming and also mentioning many many times in that in that short scope about praying for one another so now he moves from distress to disorder the disorder that was happening within the congregation and the one thing that stands out because there only one thing he addresses in this in this book there only one problem and that is that people weren working The problem here was it seems that some people were not working and because they weren't working, the church was supporting them.

That's what he means when he says you're a burden to the others. He's talking about not the government, but the church. And so there were some people who refused to work, and they had many reasons for that, and the church was supporting them. And that's the one thing that he addresses. That's the one problem he addresses in this little book. So he moves from distress now to disorder.

Now, as we look at this, I want to ask this question, how does God motivate us to honest labor? How does he motivate us? There are two ways. Here's the first. God commands you to renounce laziness. Now, today in our culture, we almost dismiss laziness as no big deal.

All right? We look at people with envy. We look at people almost as heroes who say, man, they only work 15, 20 hours a week, and yet they can pay all their bills. Wow, I wish I could do that. Right? I wish I could only work a few hours and pay all my bills and come out even. or we envy those who have all kinds of spare time, people who can take a week or two every month for vacation or we think we're compassionate for giving people food and clothes who refuse to work or we make excuses for people who just don't work.

Andy, can you still hear me? Okay. We make excuses for people who don't work, right? Well, look, he just graduated from high school. He's not used to the real world yet. Let him get used to it.

Or the front row is telling me they can't hear me. All right? Oh. See if we're inside with air conditioning. The window's closed. All right, can you hear me now?

Here's an excuse that we hear a lot, right? Hey, I know he's worked in three places in the last two months, but the jobs just didn't suit him. He didn't like the job. or he's a college graduate. He's got a degree. You don't expect him to work in a factory, do you? We make all kinds of excuses today for laziness, but laziness is a big deal.

Well, what makes it such a big deal? What makes laziness such a big deal? Laziness is a big deal because it violates the apostolic tradition. Look at verse 6, right? Look at the end of verse 6. He says, they're walking in idleness and not accord with the tradition that you received from us.

What does he mean by that? You know, when you look at that word tradition, our Catholic friends are going to pour their meaning into it, And we Protestants are going to run away from it. We don't like that word. Our Catholic friends are going to talk about tradition this way. You see, the apostles didn't just write down instructions from God. They gave it orally.

And the church has preserved those oral traditions, and they're as authoritative as Scripture because they come from the apostles. Well, and Protestants say, well, that's not really, he doesn't really mean tradition. He means something else. Well, he actually uses tradition in a particular way here. What does he mean? And you'll see this a few times in the epistles when they talk about the tradition of the apostles.

Here's what he means. It's a set teaching. It's a set teaching. For example, they had set doctrinal teachings about work that they drew from the scriptures. It's like taking what the scripture says, organizing it, and passing it on. So they were passing on what they had learned from the scriptures.

Okay, for example, they may have said to them, and remember, they had talked to them about this. Look at 1 Thessalonians, you remember chapter 4? 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, where he's saying to them in verses 11 and 12, and he tells them to aspire to live quietly and to mind your own affairs and to work with your own hands as we instructed you so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one They already talked to them about this whole issue of work and they had given them a tradition on work For example they might have taught something like this You know the Bible says work is part of being human That God told Adam to work before the curse was ever instituted.

He was told to work before the curse. Work is not the result of the curse. Toil in work is part of the curse. And so they might have taught them, look, work is part of the image of God. God worked, you work. Work came before the curse.

God expects us to work. Work is a good thing. Look at the ant. When you work, you're industrious. You shouldn't have people telling you what to do. You should take initiative.

All those things. This was their tradition, if you will. We have traditions around here. We have a tradition of counseling here, right? We have a set doctrinal idea of counseling here. And with the idea, don't depart from it.

This is how we ought to look at it. They had a tradition that dealt with work. Here's what the Bible says to you about work. It was teaching, but it was teaching that was organized. It was a doctrinal statement. So laziness is a departure from what the authoritative spokesmen of God have talked to us about.

Well, what does that make it then? Laziness is sin. He's saying laziness is sin. Laziness is such a big deal then because it violates the apostolic tradition. Laziness is a big deal because of its destructive character. Doing nothing produces something.

Let me say that again. Doing nothing produces something. For example, laziness produces dependence. Notice what he says in verse 8. Some of you are dependent on others. You're eating others' food without paying for it.

By the way, bread there does not mean you're not paying for a loaf of bread. It's the idea of food, your meals. You're not paying for what you eat. Other people are supplying that. You know what that's like? That's like stealing.

You're taking something that you haven't paid for. Laziness makes you a burden. Verse 8, he says you become a burden to people. have you ever had someone who's a burden to you now for example you might be taking care of your aging father he can get around and you got to take care of him you got to feed him you got to make sure everything comfortable you got to go see him you know all the time Or you have him over quite a bit But he not a burden is he Why not Because he can do those things You need to help him.

You need to take care of him. But someone becomes a burden when you do for that person what he can do for himself. Then that person becomes a burden. And he says, what happens when you're lazy? You become a burden. You become a burden to other people.

Laziness, verse 10, produces people not willing to work, just refusing to work. If you get in a habit of laziness long enough, you'll find plenty of excuses why you shouldn't work. I love the Proverbs where they talk about the sluggard says there's a lion outside, right? I can't go look for a job. Why? Because there's a lion prowling around.

What's that proverb all about? What that proverb is saying is for people who say, no, you know, I'm not going to go apply to that place. You know, they'll make me work on Sunday, which is something to consider, but no, I'm not even going to go there because they'll make me work on Sunday. I'm not going to go there because they just don't like people like me.

I'm not going to go there. There's all kinds of excuses. All right. And so when you get into lazy habits, you become not willing to work. Laziness leads to unproductive activity. Now, lazy people are not inactive people.

They're active in the wrong things. What happens here in verse 11? They're not busy, but what? Busy bodies. He's talking about meddlers. People are always meddling, putting their nose in things they shouldn't be putting their nose into.

They're always involved in things. So if you get lazy, you'll be busy, but you'll be busy with the wrong things. It leads to unproductive activity. Laziness essentially leads to the destruction of things that are sound and good. Laziness leads to something. Doing nothing produces something.

You see? Property. Through laziness, property is decayed and becomes worthless. Through laziness, people have lost their children to the world. I have seen how laziness leads to police getting involved, how laziness leads to all kinds of problems. So what God says, first of all, what he says to us first of all is to renounce laziness to renounce laziness Now God doesn just tell us to quit lazy habits verses seven through nine he telling us uh you know don don just quit your lazy habits he wants to motivate you to good honest labor so what else does he say here that would motivate you to working hard all right so i said there's two things he says number one renounce laziness number two god commands you to work that's a no-brainer isn't it god commands you to work how so all right look at verses seven through nine here's what he says imitate the apostolic example imitate the apostolic example notice what he says in verse nine i find this interesting for you yourselves know how you note ought to imitate us that's a little verb that is very strong.

It says how you must imitate us. You must imitate us. This is something you must do. Imitate our example. Now these are the words of a good teacher using a method called discipleship. In our culture, we've not adopted the biblical method of learning, which is the biblical method of learning is discipleship.

In our culture, it's just open up the lid, pour in the facts, close the lid, you're ready to go. The biblical way of teaching is called discipleship, which you can remember this way, show and tell, right? It's not just telling me what to do, it's showing you what to do. That's what Jesus did with his disciples, didn't he? He didn't just teach them, he showed them.

He said, this is the commandment, this is what it looks like, all right? And that's what the apostle Paul is doing here. He doesn't just say, God says work is good so you must work now get out there and get busy he goes beyond that he actually says work is good laziness is destructive so here's what it looks like to obey god's command to work here's what it looks like now i have a lot of respect for my for my dad okay and one of the reasons why is because he really did teach us a lot about work that's why he's popping up here again I remember my dad, my dad gave us a good example of work.

He really did. And here's one of the greatest he showed me. showed us. After 35 years of ministry, my dad decided, I'm going to move on to evangelism. So he resigned the pastorate where he was in Indiana, and he moved to Minneapolis. Well, to be an evangelist, you got to make contacts, right? And you got to make contacts and be able to set up things.

And, you know, he was just starting out. So at the age of 64, after 35 years in ministry, you know what he did? He got a job at a grocery store called the Piggly Wiggly and mopped floors on third shift. That's when he was 64. He says, well, until things start picking up, I got to work. And so that's what he did, right?

Now that's discipleship. So the apostle Paul says, I want you to work and here's what it looks like. And he thinks it's so important to provide a model that he forgoes the rights that he has in order to provide them a model notice what he says in verse 9 it was not because we do not have that right but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate now what's he talking about here paula's companions had every right to earn their living by ministering the gospel and that that church would support them frankly that's what you do right i don't have to get a job somewhere else because you pay my salary i make my living from the gospel is that right well look over at first corinthians 9 turn back to first corinthians 9 um by the way paul paul was so intent on this issue of work that this was his habit his habit it was not to earn his ministry from the gospel, but to work as well.

But he says, if we look at 1 Corinthians 9, he says, I do have the right to earn a living from the gospel, beginning in verse three. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?

Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk So he making the point whatever someone involved in they make their living off of that Do I say these things on human authority Does not the law say the same For it is written in the law of Moses you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.

Is it for the oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh and hope of sharing in the gospel if we have sown spiritual things among you is it too much if we reap material things from you if others share this rightful claim on you do not we even more nevertheless we have not made use of this right but we endure everything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of christ do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings.

In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. So the apostle Paul is saying, I was so intent on leaving you an example that you should follow when it comes to work, that I was willing to give up that right in order to show you what it means to work. So if you follow this model, what must you do?

If you must follow the model that the Apostle Paul lays down, what must you do? Well, verse 7, he says, we weren't idle among you. So don't make a habit of idleness. Even beyond that, be aware of when you're slipping into laziness. Be on your guard. Be diligent.

That's a real easy thing to do. It's a real easy thing to do. And I would suggest to you that maybe during this whole thing when we've all had to stay home, that we've developed a few lazy habits. Okay? I wouldn't doubt it. I'm not saying that it did happen, but it would be pretty easy for that to happen.

Be aware. Be aware. Be vigilant. Realize when you're slipping into it. Guard against it. Don't make a habit of laziness.

Here's another thing in verse 8. First part of verse 8. don't expect things like food and clothing unless you work for them. Now, we all have heard this term. He has an entitlement mentality, right? I'm entitled to this. And we live in a culture where people think they entitled to certain things That just a given Well guess what Food and clothing are what we need to work for They're what we need to work for.

Don't think you're entitled to those things. They're yours if you work for them, all right? If you pay for them with your own wages. He says, we did not eat anyone else's bread without paying for it, all right? So don't expect things. thirdly expect to work hard what does he say we toiled in labor night and day all right now he uses strong terms here toil and labor toil to the point of exhaustion that's what that word means labor i labor i work hard plus he adds what night and day we did whatever was necessary We did whatever was necessary to support ourselves.

So expect to work hard. Here's the last thing that you see in this model. Strive for independence. He says, right, you shouldn't be dependent on anyone. We did whatever was necessary to support ourselves so that we were not dependent on anyone. okay so if we want to motivate brothers and sisters in this congregation right to be good workers then we need to provide good models of people who work and by the way if you want your children to be good workers what do you think you need to do you need to be a model of hard work god wants you to work and he gives you models to imitate here's the second thing verse 10 obey the apostolic command notice what he says in verse 10 for we even when we were with you we would give you this command if anyone is not willing to work let him not eat let him not doesn't uh permission it's a command he should not eat if anyone is not willing to work he should not eat wait a minute did we read that correctly is that what he really says yeah that's what he really He says but I want you to notice something that very important here He says if someone is not what he doesn say If someone does not work he shouldn eat That not what he says Do you notice that Because some folks truly are disabled Some folks are too old.

They're physically incapable of working. They really are physically incapable of working. Okay? Some people can't find work because of racial bigotry. Some people can't find work because of their beliefs. I know a lot of my Christian brothers and sisters in Azerbaijan, a Muslim country, they couldn't get jobs.

You know why? Because they were followers of Christ. No one would hire them. No one would employ them. Okay. And so, sir, there are cases where you cannot work, but Paul aims this at folks who are physically capable of working, but are not willing to work.

These were the folks in the congregation who refused to work and the rest of them were supporting them. God says, no, if you're not willing to work, you must not support them. If they're not willing to work, don't give them food. Okay, that's exactly what he says. You know, I've had occasions sometimes to counsel families who have adult children living with them and that happens.

They have adult children living with them who refuse to go out and get jobs. You know what I said to them? don't let them come to the table then if they're not willing to work don't feed them now that seems pretty hardcore and almost harsh doesn't it but that's exactly what the apostle paul says here and it's something we need to keep in mind it's something we need to keep in mind by the way some people are saying in your minds right now you're saying yeah the government they're just giving people money and so they don't make them work and all that kind of stuff well look okay it's not like we can change that overnight if we can change it at all but at least among the people of god we need to heed what god says how do you know if someone is willing to work or not how do you know that what do you here's a question to ask what do you do when you don't have a job again I'm gonna make reference to my dad again this is one lesson he taught me that I remember very very very well he told me this if you don't have a job make it your job to look for a job And so what I would do, I can still remember this, what I would do was, I would get laid off. I was always the lowest guy in the totem pole.

I was just a grunt. I was always the first to get laid off. So what I would do is I would get all dressed up. I'd put my coat on. This is back in ancient days. You don't do it this way anymore.

You've got to figure out what to do now. But I'd put on a coat and tie, or at least a coat, and I would go out a minimum of six hours a day filling out applications for work. I made it my job to look for a job. Now, that's not just because my dad told me that. It's because I was convinced that God said, I got to work. And if I'm going to be willing to work, I got to be willing to look for work.

Now, some of you might be saying, yeah, but our economy is crashing. You expect me to look for a job? Yeah. Yeah. Now, let me say this again. And I'm going from personal experience here, okay?

I remember, again, ancient history. Some of you remember 1982. That's when Ronald Reagan became president. And he said, we're not going to do all the stuff that the last administration did. And the economy just went whoop. I mean, it just went down.

And we had just moved, and I didn't have a job. I did not have a job. And I was being told there were no jobs to be had. But I remember those days so clearly. We had one son and the other one was on the way. Right?

And so I just went out and started looking for work. I actually found a job. And within two weeks, I was offered a better job. Okay? So the Lord takes care of his people. not doesn't guarantee you'll get a job, but be willing, be willing to work. That's what he's saying here.

Be willing to work. Here's the third thing he says, obey the command to get to work. Verse 12, we command those who are this way, who are disorderly to get a job, to go get work. Now here, the apostle Paul directly addresses the people who have been lazy in that congregation. Now remember what it was like back then? Here what happened So the Apostle Paul writes this letter to the church in Thessalonica They receive it What do you think they do Here what they did They got all the members of the church together Hey, we're going to meet on Friday night.

Everybody come on Friday night. After work, come up. Come to the house. They met in houses. Where we meet, we got a letter from the Apostle Paul. We got to read it to you.

So here you are in this little church. Everybody knows everybody, right? You know the people who aren't working. You've been supporting them. you think that's the thing you ought to do and then you hear this and the apostle paul says now i'm talking to you people who aren't working you better get a job can you imagine other people are going oh man he's talking about my friend over there and the person's there what do you think i'll bet they're embarrassed i'll bet they're shamed as they hear this directly address them in other words God says start looking for work and Paul uses strong strong language here do you notice what he says first of all he says this we command and encourage you not just we command you but we command you we encourage we exhort we tell you seriously that you need to start working and not only that he then invokes divine authority.

He says we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he's saying to them this is coming from Jesus now. So let me ask you how important do you think work is to God? Right? This is really really important. This sounds serious.

God must want you to work. now here's the last thing that God does to encourage us to work obey the command to deal with the disobedient verse 6 verse 6 now you noticed I barely touched on verse 6 I haven't even gotten to verse 6 yet have I well this is the heart of the text and this is when a train comes by at this point John McQueen used to drive those trains, you know that? I'm going to wait just for a second. Oh no.

Thank you, Steve. All right in verse 6 is the primary command of this text Let's look at it. Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. Wow. this is a command that the entire congregation must obey it's not a command just to the leadership it's a command to the entire congregation it's an it's addressed to you and here's what it says that if anyone refuses to work you must refuse fellowship to him you must withdraw fellowship from him.

Now, he most certainly is making reference to some sort of official church discipline, official church action. He's not here saying willy-nilly, you think somebody's lazy, cut them off. Certainly he's not saying that. And we'll talk about it next week because in the next few verses he he talks more about that disfellowshipping thing we'll see that more next week lord willing but this is serious business this is serious and not only that but notice again that he invokes divine authority in the name of the lord jesus christ in the lord jesus christ this is what Jesus expects of the congregation.

Now again, you've got to see how serious this is. This is serious with God. Now, let's think about this. Let's just spend just a few minutes on this question. How then can we produce hardworking disciples? How do we become part of God's motivating process here?

All right, let me just make and these are just a few suggestions. This is what you need to fill out some more You need to think about this some more Make these command we need to make these commands clear in the church That has to be clear that that as members as part of the Assembly of those called out by God That you going to commit yourself to being a worker We got to make those commands clear in terms of the congregation And we must do what the Scripture says about what we ought to do with the disobedient and withdraw fellowship. If someone is lazy and someone refuses to work and is not willing to work, then we have to do what the Scripture says.

We have to be willing to take those hard steps. And those are hard steps to take. They always are. and we hate them, but we know that they're good because God commands them. And he says, this is the way you achieve it. It needs to begin at home. It needs to begin at home.

We need to make these commandments clear at home. We need to say to our children, we need to teach our children. God expects you to work. Don't look for ease. you are expected to work we need to be teaching our kids that um again my dad was a pastor right i can still remember standing in the backyard with my brother and him saying to us in no uncertain terms don't you ever look down on someone who works with his hands who who is a laborer who may not have gone to school he says just because you go to school you're not any better than anybody else because god says work is good and if you're trying to go to school in order to get out of work you're disobedient i'll never forget that lecture right so if you ever if you're ever involved in manual labor and just working in a factory digging holes digging ditches okay um thank god for that that you're honoring god by doing that so we got to make these commandments clear at home here's another thing make your children work make your children work at home okay now little kids play that's their work okay don't don't start telling your four-year-old he's got to start doing the dishes every night okay that's not what we're saying but as they grow right expect them to work Expect them to work.

What will you do when your teenager comes home or your high school graduate comes home and says, Yeah, I didn't like that job. I'm not suited for that job. I don't like that kind of work. You know what I hated about what my dad did to me? He said, Quit your job until you find another one. I'm working six days a week, nine hours a day, and I can't go to look for work on Sunday.

Oh, well, right? You work, you work. Give an example to imitate. You work hard. You be faithful at your job. And even show them that you work even when you don't get paid for it, right?

Show them work even when you don't get paid for it. Those are just some suggestions. So here's God telling us, I want you to work. I want you to work. You know, have you thought this thought? What is one reason that Jesus came to live among us, to die for us, and to be raised from the dead?

Here's one reason. There's many, many, many more. But here's one. That his disciples would be workers. That's why he died. The death of Jesus even reaches to that most mundane level.

It even reaches to that level. Does the death of our Savior produce a holy people who are distinctive in their holiness by working? That are different from the people all around them. They're known for being workers. You see, we're born as sinners, and so laziness is the natural thing. Jesus saves us from our sins, including laziness.

Jesus has been raised from the dead showing that he reigns and rules as your Lord And your Lord and your master commands you to live your life working And so you show the world that Jesus is Lord by showing up for work every day and doing your best. That's how you show a watching world that Jesus is Lord. And we can show the world the saving power of Jesus by being faithful, dependable workers.

We live in a culture that's becoming more lazy and more dependent, and God wants his people to work. So what do we need to do? We need to renounce laziness, and we need to work. And so I would say this to you. Ask your Heavenly Father for help. Ask that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you would work.

Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your word that reaches to the very level of our work. Thank you that we have a Lord who truly is Lord of every area of our life, including our work. Help us to show the Lordship of Jesus in the way we work. Help us to be distinctive in a culture that exalts everything but hard work. Lord help us to be distinctive in the way that we work in the faithfulness of it in the way we do it we ask for your help for the glory of our God we pray this in Jesus name Amen