Take Pleasure In All Their Toil
For everything there is a season, and
a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die, a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a
time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and
a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away
stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to
refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and
a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep
silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for
war, and a time for peace.
What gain have
the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to
everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time;
moreover he has put a sense of past and future in their minds, yet they cannot
find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is
nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves
as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink
and take pleasure in all their toil.
Monotony can be a breeding ground for
envy and discontent, or it can be the training ground for the development of
character and a life of service. It all depends on whether we can see God in
the ordinary duties of life. For years I worked in an office. I led, and I
managed. I also cleaned the place up, and did so willingly. We can be humbled
by using cleaning materials that God made, and you can clean objects that
belong to people that God made, and you can make life more comfortable for
them. Your mop can be the hand of God.
Are you looking for the Creator in
your own occupation? He is there. He uses the hands, bodies, and minds of
people who accept their tasks and do their work for Him. Any routine task is
relevant to God’s work in and through us – for time and for eternity.
If you want to
leave footprints in the sands of time, wear work shoes.
Our Daily
Bread –