Devotionals for November 16, 2023
Christmas at TNLC will be on December 23rd (5:30pm) and December 24th (10am, 4:00pm, & 5:30pm). Mark your calendar!
READ
Ephesians 6:5-9; 2 Thessalonians 3:10
5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.
9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven and that there is no partiality with him.
10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
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5 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.
9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven and that there is no partiality with him.
10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.
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REFLECT
While making our work our entire identity is dangerous, it is also dangerous to have hyper-negative attitudes toward working. Paul warns against laziness and working with the wrong intentions and attitudes. The force of Paul’s words in the Ephesians passage is felt when we consider his audience: bondservants. He is telling individuals who are working off debts, perhaps doing work they do not enjoy and did not choose for themselves, to work “with goodwill.” Why? Because God views work done in such a spirit as directed at himself. Thus, even if you do not like your job, the way you work can still be pleasing to God and be remembered by God. God even promises that those who work with goodwill will “receive it back from the Lord.” The heart that considers God the primary recipient of his service will endure it faithfully. Indeed, this is how humans were meant to work, and the fact that Paul is making this point within a larger context of God’s harmonious creation points to this.
APPLY
Q: What is the central theme of these passages?
Q: How can you work “with a good will” in your job?
Q: How can your attitude at work impact your coworkers?
Q: How can you work “with a good will” in your job?
Q: How can your attitude at work impact your coworkers?
SING
PRAY
"Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us."
Lord forgive us for working with a begrudging spirit. Help us to regard all our work as given to you so that we may endure it with goodwill. Amen.
Lord forgive us for working with a begrudging spirit. Help us to regard all our work as given to you so that we may endure it with goodwill. Amen.