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THE
NEW LIFE by
John Marshall
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Chapter
14 • WORK
Work
is creative and constructive and develops skills, confidence
and responsibility in a man, whereas idleness corrupts and
destroys character, except in a man who is beyond the age
or is too infirm to work. God is never idle; His creations
in the heavens and on the earth are evidences of the constancy
of His purposes. Work prolongs the will to live, but the man
who retires to a corner whilst still capable of work, loses
it.
Fortunate is he who enters a profession or makes a life-time
choice of a task which deeply interests him; he will enjoy
life to a greater extent and be likely to serve the Faith
the better.
There can be such a joy in work that there may be little thought
of the money to be gained by it. A maker of wooden bowls in
a primitive workshop was once told by a visitor, "You
could make a lot of money out of these bowls." The workman's
reply was, "I do not want to make money, I want to make
bowls." Obviously he had to have money to live, but money
was not his main concern-and it should not be ours. Our prayer
should be:
"Give
me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is needful for me:
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the
Lord?
Or lest I be poor, and steal,
And use profanely the name of my God."
Such
a doctrine of work is a necessary part of the life of the
spirit, for out of it will come an integrity of service, a
pride in creation, and an efficiency of work that will be
evident whether one's work is interesting or uninteresting,
responsible or menial.
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References
HV Morton 'In Search of England', Prov 30v8-9 RV
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Chapter
14 • WORK
The Bases of the Doctrine
The foundation of any doctrine of truth or life is dedication to
God in all one's ways: "Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice
with trembling", said the Psalmist, and this kind of sanctified
response to God pervades the writings of the Apostle Paul regarding
work and service to men. To him service of any kind was to be rendered
as "unto Christ" or as "unto the Lord". Could
the children of God do otherwise in any activity?
Paul as much as anyone knew that "the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom" and that is why he writes: "Servants,
be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh,
with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ."
The servant should fulfil his tasks not in fear and trembling of
his employer, from whom he has nothing to fear if he gives good
service, but in fear lest a lack of integrity in his work should
cause the name of God to be blasphemed.
We are more fortunate today than the slaves of Paul's day, because
they had neither freedom, nor redress for wrongs. Today an employee
who finds conditions of work intolerable can seek work elsewhere.
With conditions of slavery in mind Paul exhorted that there should
be no answering back or purloining, but a showing of "all good
fidelity; that servants may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour
in all things".
It may be difficult at times not to feel resentful of poor conditions
of work or pay, and to feel that it is no more than an employer
deserves if one "purloins" things, perhaps of small value;
but it was Jesus who stressed that "the man who is faithful
in little things will be faithful in big things, and the man who
cheats in the little things will cheat in the big things too".
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References
Psa 2v11, Eph 6v5, 1 Tim 6v1-2,
Titus 2v9-10, Luke 16v10 Phillips
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