Work ethics for christians

Memorise: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest” (Eccl 9:10)

Read: Proverbs 24:30-34

The instruction “Go to the ants” in Proverbs 6:6 was addressed to the sluggard. Who is a sluggard? The first vice we see in a sluggard is his negative attitude to work. He hates work. He will be happy if he could live without working. Today, many are engaged in jobs that give them no satisfaction.

To say the truth, they hate the job but continue to do it for mere survival. According to a renowned international speaker, one difference between the rich and the poor is their attitude to work.

While the rich enjoy what they are doing, the poor hate what they are doing. Even as students, it is common knowledge that you tend to fail or have a poor grade in subjects you dislike than in those you like. The reason many students fail Mathematics is because they first fired the salvo of hatred and by the time the subject retaliated, they found it difficult to understand.

As long as you hate whatever you are doing, you cannot put in your best or bring out its best. You are a sluggard. The antidote to this is in Ecclesiastes 9:10 . It says, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest”.

Love your work. Do it with all your might. Give it your best shot and it will surely deliver its best to you. As a student, love your studies. Fall in love with every subject. It will help to generate your interest and sustain it.

God requires faithfulness from you in your secular assignment. When you are dutiful, hardworking, dependable, loyal and faithful, you would have evangelized your office by your virtues. This is a powerful way to evangelize than direct preaching. It is easier to win your colleagues, subordinates and bosses over to Christ through your high level of commitment in your office.

Ideally, believers should be so dependable that they become indispensable. A brother once worked with a company. His boss always reiterated to all his staff: “Nobody is indispensable to me”. And true to his words, many left and others replaced them.

But when this brother was to resign, he was shocked at the Managing Director’s response. The man refused to accept his resignation and begged the brother for hours. He even got his wife who was far away to beg him. But for the fact that he was led to go, he would have stayed back.

If some believers were to resign today, it would be good riddance to bad rubbish. If you were to resign from your place of work today, what would people’s response be? In any case, how much do you love your work?

If your presence in that office is not making a significant positive contribution, you are salt without savour.