Colossians 3:23

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,

Work is a privilege and not a curse. When God created Adam, the very first thing He gave him was work. This was before sin came into the picture. The attitude we have towards work will determine how we do it and what we get out of it. Paul tells us in our key verse that the way we should approach any kind of work, as believers, is with an attitude of doing it for the Lord and not for man. This means we give it our best.

Daniel and Joseph are great examples of this. Both were slaves, captured against their will and taken to a foreign land. They had to learn a new language and a new culture that was contrary to what they were taught. Their masters worshipped other gods, yet, Joseph and Daniel always rose to the top because of the attitude they carried.

Both were known to be excellent in what they did, and they were men of integrity. Joseph was such a man of integrity that wherever he was, whether Portiphas house the prison or the palace, everything was left under his care and he did an exceptional job. Daniel was so excellent and consistent that he served several administrations and when they were looking for something in his life, so inconsistency or evil they could use to accuse him with, they found none.

Think about this, as a child of God, an ambassador of heaven, one in whom the Holy Spirit abides, the same Spirit who created the world, how much more should you be excellent in all that you do? It was Martin Luther King Jr who said “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep the streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Both Joseph and Daniel took initiative even though they were in captivity, their “Bosses” may not have been kind and considerate, but both men offered creative solutions that benefitted the whole kingdom. Though their conditions were not favourable they were persistent, they never gave up. Joseph still gave his best when he was thrown into prison, while Daniel continued to serve with excellence even after he was thrown into the lion’s den.

Remember proverbs 21:25 tells us; “The desires of the lazy will kill them because their hands refuse to do anything.” while 14:23 says “There is profit in hard work, but mere talk leads to poverty.”

Reflections

• What’s your attitude on Monday morning when you wake up to go to work?
• What work do you hate to do the most?
• Excellence, is it your lifestyle or do you just do the bare minimum?