Because Of Your Reverent Fear Of The Lord

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do.  

Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you.  

Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord.

Colossians 3:22 NLT

Are you dreading the work that lies ahead of you today?  Do you wish you could sleep in and ignore that to do list that your spouse left for you?  That big project at work is due in a couple of days, are you working diligently to complete it?  You offered to help a friend with something and the work turned out to be harder than expected, are you still joyful in helping or has your willingness faded?  Is your teacher difficult to get a long with, or does she expect too much from you without clearly explaining the work?  Today we will all expererience work that we aren't fond of.  Someone will ask us to do something for them that we don't feel like doing.  It may be a boss who shows no compasssion for his employees or a teacher who doesn't care about her students.  We will all come into contact with someone who isn't fun to be around, let alone fun to answer to.  He or she will most likely ask us to do some kind of work and it is up to us to do it correctly.  

In his letter, Paul is neither condemning or condoning slavery.  He is merely showing believers that when we work for Christ the divisions we have with people will disappear.  When we work with Christ on our minds, as if we are working for Him, then the work doesn't appear to be so bad.  Our deep respect for God should bring us to our knees every time and when we are asked to do work we don't like or obey a person we don't like, we are much more willing to humble ourselves and complete the task.  If we are sincere about following God and learning from every circumstance we are in then serving out of our reverence for the Lord should come naturally.  And so when your mother asks you to do the laundry, your spouse asks you to run some errands, your boss expects you to stay overtime or your teacher gives you a difficult assignment..........serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord.

Dear God, forgive me for the times I complain about my work and for the times I refuse to do something.  I should be dedicating my work to You, always, and working because I love you and want to serve you, not for the person who is demanding the work to be done.  Father, help me to see my day differently and react to people's demands out of reverence for You.  I do love You.  I do thank You and praise You for the great life You have given me.  Help me to show my thankfulness in my actions by living for You and not the people in my life.  Help me to serve others with You in mind.  Help me to serve others by first serving You.  In Jesus' Name    Amen