"We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Its a simple verse meant to encourage the young Thessalonians in their Christian walk and includes the often mentioned triad of faith, hope, and love (1 Cor. 13:13, Col. 1:5, 1 Thess. 5:8). I have never heard anyone argue the merit of possessing these three characteristics. Everyone wants to possess these, the question is how to cultivate a life that personifies them. What stood out to me were the words that brought out these pillars of the Christian life and I think they provide some insight. As usual it goes against the typical line of thinking.
- "Your work produced by faith" - I could delve into many roads on faith and works, but I wanted to stick to what first came to my mind that morning. I was about to go to my job, so when I read 'work' that is what I associated it with. Why do we work? Most would say to make money, some to survive, others to acquire stuff. I meet very few people who actually enjoy their work. So we work out of fear of not surviving or keeping up with status quo of society. We work for security. If faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see," I know I often try to buffer that notion of having faith with work. I want to think God will take care of me, but I also want to have a back up plan, just in case. Its easy to have faith if your life situation is considered "well-off." When times are down though, it is easy to put faith in your work rather than God. My take home message was a reminder that each day I go to work is not to assure my own well-being aside from God, but I work knowing my needs will be taken care of.
- "Labor prompted by love" - Labor and love are rarely used in the same sentence. The idea of labor is usually looked down upon by our society. Everyone wants a job where they don't have to do anything and get paid for it. The idea of laboring for love and not just for money is so far removed from my usual line of thinking. Laboring, work, etc. take up so much of our time, it should be such a good venue for representing Christ. What we love will set us apart from the world, so it is best to express that love even when we are laboring. I'll give a quick shout out to my first musical interest, dc talk, who put it very nicely in '90s hip hop lingo in their song "Luv is a Verb" Take home message, "Whatever you do, do it with all your heart as if working for the Lord and not for men." - Colossians 3:23
- "Your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" - It is easy to get frustrated at work, slack off, or quit. A coworker tells me every time I ask how he is doing, says "just waiting on 5 o'clock." How often have I longed for 5 o'clock, the weekend, or even retirement? What a sad thought. Hope has come to mean a longing for something to happen you don't think will happen. In the Bible it is just the opposite, implying a "joyous certainty", confidence that what is going to happen in the future is for your good. If we place our hope on ourselves, then it is no surprise we are all working for the weekend, because we will never find satisfaction in our own desires. Its so easy to live life as a destination, with each stop a let down in our search for temporary pleasure. If our hope is in Jesus, the journey and the destination, how can we be let down? He has the ultimate gift, which we can never acquire on our own and will give an eternal meaning to each day. Take home message "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalms 118:24).
Do what you love.
Love what you do.
