You Don’t Have To Settle For Second Best!

If you don’t master something but let it master you, you will become a slave to it. Work is good for you but if you work in excess, it will destroy you. You can read Deuteronomy 5:12-15 for proof.  We are instructed in Exodus 20:9-10 to rest on the Sabbath day for a special reason – we ‘need’ rest. Anybody who thinks otherwise is fooling themselves and will pay the consequences for their disobedience.

We are also instructed not to ‘muzzle the ox’ that works on the field – read Deuteronomy 25:4. This means that it needs sustenance (food) and rest in order for it to do its work properly. We cannot do a good day’s work if we do not maintain our bodies well. Productivity as well as quality declines when we push ourselves to the limit without adequate rest.

On the contrary, there is a stern warning and rebuke for those who think they can go about life as though it is all a song and a dance. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (ESV), “if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” This cuts straight to the matter – laziness is inexcusable and ought not to be tolerated. It is like a malaise and we should keep far away from it or else it will contaminate people.

When a person repeatedly goes against sound judgement and ignores advice, he is ‘digging his own grave’. The signs are very visible; he or she looks emaciated and all the makeup in the world cannot cover it up. It is just like a child from a war-torn country who is skin and bone and has that look in his eyes that says ‘I am ravished’.

The question on working that begs to be answered is, ‘why’. There are many reasons why people work; they have basic needs to be met, they want a better life or they want to prove something to someone. Whatever the reason, over-working is a malady. It is like the story of the frog in the pot of water; it swims around merrily but when that pot is placed over the fire, it begins to enjoy the warm water. It lives in the moment and life becomes so nice that it doesn’t realise the impending peril waiting for it.

Work is good for a person but when taken to the extreme, it will kill you! Only the sad story of your ill-gotten life will remain and you will certainly not be around to reap the benefits of your labour. Life is not something to be taken lightly. You are here today and gone tomorrow and that in itself is a sobering thought.◊

Linda Pearl