Leadership Thought: What I Learned About Work While Working for the County One Summer.

Dear Friends,

I learned a bad habit working for the county one summer. I learned how to be lazy. That is not a good trait to learn if you want to be successful. As I look  back on my high school days and my summer employment of doing road work for the county, I am embarrassed to think of what a poor witness I was. It was tempting to be a ‘shovel leaner,’ something that I learned from some of the ‘veterans’ who had worked with the county for years. I remember one time how I was one discouraged from working hard by some of those on the team, for as they said, “it made them look bad.” It was almost natural  to find ways to waste time at work for after all the financial benefits of working for the county were not all that great. Now I don’t want to indict anyone who works for the county, for I know not all workers are like the ones with whom I worked and thank goodness for that.

Fortunately, I had a father who taught me the value of a strong work ethic, so laziness never became a ‘chronic condition’ for me. And then when I came to know Christ, my work ethic was taken to a new level as I began reading through the Book of Proverbs.

One of the early ways, I was taught to study the Bible included reading a Proverb a day (there are 31 chapters-one for each day of most months). I quickly found that the Bible had a lot of negative things to say about laziness or being a slacker or a sluggard. These are definitely not good qualities for one seeking to be faithful in serving the Lord.

Listen to a few of the warnings from Proverbs I read: A lazy person hates to work: “The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refused to work” (21:25);_he loves sleep: “As a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard turns on his bed” (26 : 14); he gives excuses: “The sluggard says, there is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets” (26:13); he wastes time an energy: “He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who was a great waster”(18: 9); he believes he is wise, but is a fool: “The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answered discreetly.” (26: 16).

There is no room in the life of a Christian for laziness. We have been saved to serve. Salvation is the root of our faith, but our work is the fruit of our faith. They go together. Do not forget to read verse 10 of Ephesians 2 which follow vs 8-9 (The verses where we learn salvation is not dependent on our works but on our faith). “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (v. 10).

In a Leaders Heart, a 365 Devotional) John Maxwell writes, “The sluggard makes only one commitment: to his leisure.  He will try any excuse to shy away from honest labor. Wise leaders know their time is limited. They know they have no way to retrieve misused or wasted time. Jesus stressed this when He said, “I must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; The night is coming when no one can work”(John 9: 4).  Leaders in the body of Christ must remain diligent in doing good and encouraging others to do likewise.” (March 17^th p. 80).

Let us not forget that “A lazy man/woman is a workshop for Satan.” (Arabian Proverb).

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

P.S.  If you want to be accountable for being an active, industrious worker for Jesus, try signing Colossians 3:23-24 after your name.