Bible Discussion Thread

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. ( John 5:17).

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. ( Colossians 3:23-24).

These two verses demonstrate to us that work in the secular or "spiritual" realm is to be done with all of our might (following the principal of Ecclesiastes 9:10). Christ actually states that in some cases such as John 4:38 that they have reaped what others have sown. John 4 discusses the conversion of the Samaritan woman (woman at the well) and her evangelistic campaign. In this case she did the sowing and the Disciples reaped the benefits. It is interesting to think that she was the first evangelist listed even before the Disciples were sent out two by two (I think). Even Jesus didn't have to work that hard in that respect; such gratitude for being saved by sins was shown in other women such as Mary Magdeline. Would we all approach the Great Commission with such eagerness.

When it comes to our everyday jobs I am grateful in my situation even with just part time work being all that I can do with other responsibilities that I am surrounded by people that work hard. I work doing food prep in a high school kitchen; and especially with intense State Inspection coming those who would want to mess about won't remain very long. Having supervisors that I respect in each of the other surrounding schools in the District where we are sent on occasion is an added bonus; along with the lady from one of them that joined our team today. There are a number of passages discussing employer and employee relations (in many cases servant and master analogy). Our work ethic isn't a substitute for sharing God's Word; but an opportune moment won't earn any respect if we don't have a foundation of trusted service for the weeks or months before such a conversation can occur.