Labor Day Thgoughts
“The labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce.” — Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914.
After a day of rest to celebrate the value of labor and the dignity of the laborer, it is time for the laborer to return to his or her labors.
The Bible says that,
“… the laborer is worthy of his reward.” (I Timothy 5:18).
In another place, it refers to
“… labor of love.” (I Thessalonians 1:3)
After a Labor day, some years ago, I journaled:
The truth is, I am a bit tired. I spent Labor Day doing various jobs in the yard and projects in the house. I went back and forth till nighttime.
I am not sure I agree with Clayton entirely. I am not sure the Clayton Act agrees with itself.
My labor is not commodity or article of commerce of anyone else. Futures in my work cannot be traded or used as collateral. The fruits of my labors may be purchased or rented for a price.
However, my labor is my only real commodity and article of commerce for myself when combined with my ideas and thoughts. My labors of love are all I hold in my hands to trade.
The laborer labors and gets a reward, but that is not what makes it a labor of love.
What makes labor more than a commodity and article of commerce is significance. If we believe that what we are doing is making a difference and fulfilling a great purpose, hours will go by without us noticing and the time to quit will seem like an interruption. We will awaken with innovative ideas and we will be driven by passion.
We will be energized in the expenditure of our energies.
The challenge of most employers is to invite their workers to become partners in some great enterprise and to celebrate their labors as purposeful and significant. The challenge to each of us is to do the same for ourselves whether or not the boss “gets it.”
Then, this return to labor will be a pleasure as it is for me.
May your day be filled with meaningful labor… whatever it is.
By the way,
Sometimes making the best of things …
… is the ultimate statement of defiance and …
… taking charge.
Encouragement for Those Who Labor
“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” — Revelation 14:13
There is something to be written.
The visionary, John, in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, sees sights and hears sounds that amaze him.
Perhaps some are confusing, confounding, and complex. We have certainly struggled with what we have read through the centuries.
That is not the case with these simple words. They are clear, concise, and unambiguous.
“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.”
There is something qualitatively different about the death of God’s people. Rather than tragedy, it is triumph. Rather than defeat, it is victory. Rather than loss of purpose, it is fulfillment.
It is like a day of rest from labors where he labor of their lives is honored and completed.
God knows how hard you have worked. He knows the labor of your service. He knows the work of your hands. He understands the travail of your faith. He is with you; He has been doling out strength little by little. He knows the difficulties.
He has been helping you.
He also knows when you will have had enough and completed your task. He has your retirement date in mind.
It will not be a day of regret. In will not be a day of unfinished business. It will not be a time when you look back and say, “I wish I had …” or “… if only I had not…”
He will complete whatever projects are lingering on your desk or bench. He will bring them to fulfillment and He will pass them on to others who will take up where you left off.
Your works will follow you.
You will have a legacy.
Your life purpose, expressed through your life work, will follow you and you will rest, fulfilled and content, in His presence.
That will be a nice eternal Labor Day.
Meaningful Labor
Psalm 90:10
“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
We are all on borrowed time.
Plutarch called time “the wisest of all counselors.” It teaches us to value the moments we have and to make the most of them.
It is s not necessarily a bad thing to be on borrowed time because, when we realize it, we treat it with more respect. If it were not true, we might be tempted to waste more of it.
We have limited time and limited strength and we spend it on labor and sorrow. We can’t do much about the inevitability of sorrow, but we can make some choices about our work.
Our great challenge is to spend our lives in meaningful work as partners with God and others.
“Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” (I Corinthians 3:8)
We are always doing something. The question is whether or not we are doing something positive and rewarding.
“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” (Revelation 14:13)
That is our aim, to live and die in the Lord so that rest await us and our works continue to do good even after we are gone. The secret to such a life is working in partnership with the Lord, our God. It is joining Him in the work that He purposes and enacts.
“For we are labourers together with God … “ (I Corinthians 3:9a)
Now, that is “good work if you can get it,” and you can!
Labor Day: God Worketh in You.
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” — Philippians 2:13
Work is good. Every person needs something meaningful to do. While the emphasis of the Christian life is more on being than doing, action is the normal expression of who we are as believers.
It is God’s work, God way, for God’s purposes, through God’s people that makes Labor Day significant for the Christian. Because God is always at work and invites us to join Him in His work, we have much cause for praise and rejoicing The seventy-two disciples came back rejoicing and Jesus Himself rejoiced when the reports of God’s work through them were given. But the great rejoicing, Jesus said, was not for dramatic miracles, but for the relationship out of which they grew — one that brought eternal life. In that, we rejoice this morning.
We are not on our own. We do not check in with God in the morning and go our way through the day to check out later and report on our accomplishments. If God is not working through us, enabling us, empowering us, and directing us, we are producing merely wood, hay, and stubble.
Beyond that, it may be easy for us to accept that we cannot work alone for God without Him, but it is equally true that we are not to work alone with Him. We are called in community to allow Him to work through us in the company of other believers. Do not neglect solitude, but in your solitude, neither neglect partnership (AKA — fellowship). — Father, teach me to join hands with those you have called out as Thou hast called me, to walk in dependence upon Thee, and to welcome Thy work in and through my life.
Labor Day: God Worketh in You.
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” — Philippians 2:13
Work is good. Every person needs something meaningful to do. While the emphasis of the Christian life is more on being than doing, action is the normal expression of who we are as believers.
It is God’s work, God way, for God’s purposes, through God’s people that makes Labor Day significant for the Christian. Because God is always at work and invites us to join Him in His work, we have much cause for praise and rejoicing The seventy-two disciples came back rejoicing and Jesus Himself rejoiced when the reports of God’s work through them were given. But the great rejoicing, Jesus said, was not for dramatic miracles, but for the relationship out of which they grew — one that brought eternal life. In that, we rejoice this morning.
We are not on our own. We do not check in with God in the morning and go our way through the day to check out later and report on our accomplishments. If God is not working through us, enabling us, empowering us, and directing us, we are producing merely wood, hay, and stubble.
Beyond that, it may be easy for us to accept that we cannot work alone for God without Him, but it is equally true that we are not to work alone with Him. We are called in community to allow Him to work through us in the company of other believers. Do not neglect solitude, but in your solitude, neither neglect partnership (AKA — fellowship).
Father, teach me to join hands with those you have called out as Thou hast called me, to walk in dependence upon Thee, and to welcome Thy work in and through my life.
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