WEEK 34 – DAY 3

SERVE WHOLEHEARTEDLY

With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Ephesians 6:7-8

Paul addressed the slave and master relationship in this passage, but the admonitions apply to the modern workplace. Most people are either an employer or an employee, and many are both. These verses address employees. Are we just doing our jobs in order to draw our pay, or are we really considering what we do a service to our employers? Christ said He came into the world to serve rather than to be served (Matthew 20:28), and we are to be imitators of Christ. We are not in bondage to our boss in the sense of being a slave, but we are bound because of our witness for the Lord to be the best employees we can be. We are also instructed to serve wholeheartedly, out of benevolence and good will, not with the attitude of just doing enough to get by. If we are truly doing our work as if working for the Lord, our work is praise to Him and can bring joy to us. The word translated “wholeheartedly” appears to have also been a euphemism for conjugal duty.  Since we are the bride of Christ, one way we show our love for Him is to serve our employers consistently well and thus bring honor to the Lord’s name. At only twenty, I supervised a part-time employee who did only enough to get by. We worked on a quota system, and he was below or right at quota every month. He was a seminary student. After giving him official counsel that he might lose his job if his production didn’t improve by next month, I asked to speak to him as his sister in the Lord. I explained to him that his work was a poor witness and made my witness difficult as well since we were from the same denomination. He became angry with me for “preaching” to him and stormed out. However, at his next evaluation, I was able to tell him he had exceeded quotas on every type of work. He apologized for his anger saying the Lord had set him straight afterwards. The Lord strengthened our bond in Christ as well as our witness to our coworkers.

Father, help us to remember that our goal is to serve You, and in the process, serve our employers well. Help us serve wholeheartedly rather than grudgingly. May it be a faithful duty to our First Love.