Leadership Thought: I Can't Work, Grandma's Got the Hoe.

Dear Friends,

A teenager was lounging on the floor, watching television, when the phone rang.

“Hello, son,” said the boy’s father.” Where is your mother?”

“She's out working in the garden,” the distracted teen responded.”

“What! Your mother is not as young or as strong as she used to be. Why aren't you out there helping her?”

“Because I can't dad,” the son replied. “Grandma's using the other hoe!”

Now there is a young man who probably  isn't going to accomplish much in life unless he learns to develop a different work ethic.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4: 9-10, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive because we have our hopes set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

I was struck by Paul's words, “for this we labor and strive,” for these words communicate the idea of hard work. The word labor means  “to work to the point of weariness,” and the word strive comes from a Greek word that means  “to agonize in a struggle.”

Leaders must be willing to work hard if they are going to succeed at whatever they do. Former President Dwight Eisenhower was right when he said, "There are no victories at bargain prices, for work is always the price of success."

Oswald Sanders, writes, "If a leader is unwilling to pay the price of fatigue for his leadership, it will always be mediocre.” He goes on to say, “True leadership always exacts a heavy toll on the whole man, and the more effective the leadership is, the higher the price to be paid” (Spiritual Leadership). 

 

The person who seeks to impact the lives of others, must recognize that we labor not for temporal success but for future rewards. Paul writing to the Corinthians said, “We labor that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him” (2 Cor 5:9).

Why is this true? It is because  we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ where we will stand before our Master, and He will reward us for our faithfulness and service for him, and that reward will be commensurate with the service we have rendered on earth. 

Again, Paul writes, “If any man builds on this foundation (the foundation  of Jesus Christ), using gold, silver, costly stones,  or wood, hay, or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the days will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. It will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

I can present him wood, hay, or straw, or gold, silver and costly stones, but when the offering of my life’s efforts are passed through the flames of fire, I pray that what is offered will not be burned up, but that it shall come through the fire untouched by the flames, revealing the quality of service that has stood the test of divine judgment.

In closing, John Calvin’s physician told him to stop working or he would die, and Calvin reportedly replied, "Would you have my Master come and find me loitering?”

Let's not loiter through life like the young man in the story above. Let’s always be willing to work hard and to give our very best knowing that what we present will not only be a true reflection of ourselves, but more importantly of the Master we serve.

Yours in ministry,

Tom

P. S. “When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt” Henry J. Kaiser.