Daily Devotions
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Colossians 3:23
For many people work is drudgery. Their feelings about work are mostly negative and their attitudes toward those for whom they work are anything but positive. For such Saint Paul has good advice. When you work, give it your all. And think of work as service done for God, not others. That’s bound to improve your view of work.
Christians work to give God glory. That’s a revolutionary notion. It puts a positive twist on the “labor of our hands.” If such an attitude were translated into labor-management relations, things might improve decidedly. Both managers and laborers might be more concerned with what they put into their work as opposed to what they get out of it.
In Paul’s day, working conditions for the common laborer were worse, if anything, than they are today. Workers in Colosse must have been astounded by Paul’s advice. But if they thought it through, or better, tried it Paul’s way, putting their whole heart into their labor and thinking of it as something done for and dedicated to their God, they soon discovered what a difference such an attitude makes.
Work always as if you are working for the Lord.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, brighten my daily work by receiving it as a tribute to Your love and goodness; for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
(Devotions from “The Abundant Life” copyright 1998, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time e-mailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)