Daily Devotional

Free Labor

by Lise Bachman-Karnes on September 13, 2022

As the time for the annual Gleanings trip approaches, I’m reminded of something we laughed about while we were working last time. The work was dirty and monotonous, yet we were laughing and enjoying each other’s company. The thing we laughed about was that none of us would accept a job doing this yet here we were doing it for free.

Another job which is probably not a job we would accept now for pay is the Food for You program. We get an assembly line going and everyone does their part. As with the Gleanings team, the mood is light-hearted. We are working for the people who come through and also our Heavenly Father.

It reminded me of the jobs my friends and I did for minimum wage during college. The worst one I did was cleaning out test tubes full of fly debris. Some of the flies were still alive and flew into your face. I wouldn’t have even done that regularly. I filled in for a friend whose job it was. I did it for friendship, not for the pittance I received. Yuck! Mostly I worked in the college’s various kitchens and waited on students who were more privileged than I. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but I had been raised to value work and make my own way. However, I was glad to graduate from those jobs when I got my degree.

Yet now here I am in retirement doing jobs much more menial than the work I did as a career. But the goal is different and I am doing it unto the Lord and that makes all the difference.

Colossians 3:23 tells us “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

Working for the Lord provides an entirely different perspective and much greater purpose.

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