Work Hard and Rest Easy

One of the best known of all the old hymns is “When We All Get To Heaven” and when we do, what a glorious day that will be but before we do, we must do the work God has given to us below. Each and every one of us serves a different purpose and regardless of how big or small the task is, it all goes to glorify Christ. When we begin to live and work for God, we are transformed into something more.

When we do get to Heaven and live with the Father, there will be plenty of rest and peace unlike here on Earth where our Earthly bodies become tired. Just like every other person here below, my body is tired a lot and it’s hard to do what has to be done and when I grow tired, I have to look up. Keeping our eyes on Christ is the most important aspect of life for a believer and He tells us if we keep all things—our eyes, our minds, our perspectives— on Him, He will provide for the rest.

Philippians 4:19 reads just that ”But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” When we work, we should commit it all to God which is what Proverbs 16:3 tells: “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” These two scripture are significant because we are told that God will provide according to His riches and that when we do this, our plans will be established. Many people including Chistians either do not understand or completely ignore the word “commit.”

This is an important word to look at because we have to commit our ways to Him. When we commit to something, we put our whole hearts to it and while we will mess up in whatever we do, we have to do our best. If we only half way do something, our efforts will be in vain and Colossians 3:23 explains this: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” Looking more closely at commit, we should commit our works not unto man but rather, God. Yes, we should do our best and do so heartily but this does not mean that we do it to the point where there is nothing left of us.

This is important to remember because too many good people have spent their entire lives working hard for something that they were unable to enjoy any of their fruits. Remember, regardless of what job or position you hold here on Earth, if something unexpectedly happens like a serious injury or death, it will not take long for that individual to be replaced by the company so work hard and do so knowing its for a bigger purpose but we should not put all of our energy into a place that is only temporarily.

All these things that we see and have, right now, are temporary and all of these things here below will fade away as we cannot take anything with us. That being said, our responsibilities should be met with a great effort and not just half way done but we should not work ourselves into an early grave. When I think of this, I think of many good men and women who have done so and many of them did so for honorable reasons: their family, education and/or wisdom, or to set a better example for others.

Without question all of these are honorable but we should not put more effort into a place of work than we do God. God tells us to rest and keep the Sabbath holy and further, we are told not to be like this world. While we live here, we should separate ourselves from the ways of this world which means not getting caught up in exhaustive world winds. Romans 12:2 tells us “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of our mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

This goes back to the all-important concept of commitment. In a relationship, you commit yourself to one partner and when you are committed, you do your best to make that person happy. Anyone who has ever been in a serious, committed relationship knows how hard this may be with all the distractions around us but when you love someone; truly love someone, you do all you can do for that person and the concept is the same for God as Christians we to pray because we love Him and depend on Him and our reliance on Him is significant in our lives. Hebrews 11:1 reads “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”