A Thought for Labor Day

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27 NIV

Today is Labor Day, celebrated every year on the first Monday in September. It was created to commemorate the achievements of American workers and give tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. Typically, I would take the day off and relax with family. But this day, my soul was asked a crucial question which must be answered concerning another type of work.

I read the verse several times in the Amplified Bible on an afternoon while young hands work scales up and down the piano keys, “Jesus replied, ‘This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger]'” (John 6:29 AMP). That’s my daily work, the work God asks of me? To trust. The work I shirk. To trust in the Son, to trust in the wisdom of this moment, to trust in now. And trust is that: work. The work of trusting love. Intentional and focused. Sometimes, too often, I don’t want to muster the energy. Stress and anxiety seem easier. Easier to let a mind run wild with the worry than to exercise discipline, to reign her in, slip the blinders on and train her to walk steady in certain assurance, not spooked by the specters looming ahead. Are stress and worry evidences of a soul too lazy, too undisciplined, to keep gaze fixed on God? (Emphasis added.) Ann VosKamp from One Thousand Gifts

After Jesus fed the multitude, the crowd followed Him to the other side of the lake and they asked Him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (John 6:28) And Jesus replied the work God requires is to believe in the one he has sent! (John 6:29) God has taken care of EVERYTHING else! (Ephesians 2:8-9) Our only job is to believe in and trust in Him. And so I ask the all-important question, “Am I doing the “Work” that God requires?” Sleepless nights, unhealthy symptoms, and time lost forever from worrying and fretting over things (which no one would deny were matters of great importance :)) indict me.  This “work” to which I am called is far-reaching with eternal consequences and without it, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) And so I repent and reaffirm again like the father of the boy who was possessed by an evil spirit. “Lord, I believe, please help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) LH

(Why not take some time to read Hebrews 11 to commemorate those whose accomplishments were from another type of “work”?)

 

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is an aspiring Bounty Hunter who is always looking for God's Bounty-- His grace and goodness-- in the mundane and melancholy as well as in the miraculous. She is also a wife, mother of four adult children--two with Cerebral Palsy, grandmother and minister of the Gospel. "You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance." Psalm 65:11 NLT

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2 thoughts on “A Thought for Labor Day”

  1. Why, after so many years, is it still such hard work to believe? I also want to reaffirm “I believe, help me in my unbelief”.
    Thanks Lisa

    1. After seeing your comment, I was thinking about the verse which says, “He knows our frailty/weaknesses. (Psalm 103:14) When I went to look it up, I didn’t realize it was the chapter that tells us, “Forget not all his benefits” and then provides a list of them. Maybe we struggle to believe and have faith because we are forgetful! https://betteroffread.com/2013/09/04/total-recall/

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