Work Hard

“Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of the unknown.”
Proverbs 22:29 CSB

I am not sure what you were taught about work, but when I was a young boy I was taught to work hard at every job that I was given. That is not to say that I enjoyed every job or that I did them all to the best of my ability. But I was taught that it was my responsibility before God to work hard at everything I did. I can still hear these words from my Dad, as if he were saying them to me today, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might.” Now what you have to understand is that I grew up on a farm, so I was given many jobs to do that were less than desirable. They were often dirty and smelly. One of the worst jobs that we did in the spring was cleaning out the potato bins. If you have ever had the JOY of cleaning up rotten potatoes you know what I am talking about. You smelled like rotten potatoes for the next week. NASTY! I digress. My point is I learned early on in life that I was to do my best at every job no matter how smelly, gross or seemingly insignificant. When doing our best is our goal and our life practice, we get good at whatever we do and eventually we become skillful. (I know you are thinking, how skillful can you be at cleaning up rotten potatoes? Cleaning the rotten potatoes is about learning the lesson of hard work that carries you into your next job). Becoming skillful at a job or hobby gets noticed, and the next thing you know you are being asked to work for people who respect and appreciate the skills you have acquired. You become known in your field for doing great work.
Let my ask you “the question for the day”–are you doing your best at your work? Or are you putting in your time? Our society is telling us do the least amount possible to get by, but that is not God’s idea of doing our work well. As my Dad often said, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all of your might!” You never know who’s watching.

-Pastor Tim