Profitable Labor

For Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Proverbs 14:23

In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Or to put it in modern terms - just do it! Be reluctant to make promises; be resolved to carry out commitments. And definitely let the making of excuses be rare. If you demonstrate through your actions that you keep commitments, that you labor conscientiously, taking pride in your work, then you do not need excuses for the few times you might fail. Your work reputation is developed by the actual work you do, not by your ability to talk about your ability and especially not by your ability to make excuses for yourself.

Learn to take pride in all toil (that is legitimate and moral). There is profit from all toil. It will usually be literal profits earned through labor; it may be the product produced which provides satisfaction. It may be the satisfaction of accomplishing difficult work; it may be pleasure in the very act of labor itself. It may be learning that a particular labor is not for you or is the wrong way of doing something.

And if done well, and if done for the glory of God; if done understanding that Christ is your Master whom you are pleasing, then surely all labor is profitable, not to earn merit with God, but to enrich your life as you take pleasure in serving and glorifying your God.