Walking with the Wise #135: The Worth of Your Work

“Whoever is slothful will not roast his game,

but the diligent man will get precious wealth.”

—Proverbs 12:27

My grandfather is a farmer. He’s in his eighties now and his health is deteriorating, but to this day, he is the hardest working man I’ve ever seen. Not that he was married to his work, mind you. He wasn’t. He knew how to relax and how to have fun. He valued friends and family and loves to laugh. And although his health isn’t what it used to be, he left me an example that has proven invaluable to me. Growing up without a father is tough, and when you don’t have a father you find a father figure wherever you can. And for me, I was blessed to find it in my grandfather. He told me about the value of hard work—about doing a task and doing it right. When I was young, he would have me clean all of the farm equipment, and I knew that if I didn’t work hard and do the task right, I would be doing it all over again. He also taught me that hard work was valuable and that laziness was to be despised. Whenever he had to go run an errand he would bring me along, and every so often we would drive by the field or farm of a lazy farmer. Even though I was young, it didn’t take much for me to see what a lazy farmer’s farm looked like. The grass was overgrown, the equipment was rusty, and buildings were dilapidated. Lazy farmers wouldn’t get their harvest in on time and suffered because of it. I knew that when I grew up, I would work hard, and lazy was something I didn’t want to be.

Today’s proverb contrasts laziness with diligence, sloth with hard work. Using a hunting metaphor, Solomon shows us that a lazy man will not even be able to cook what he has caught. He wants us to understand that a lazy life is an empty life, but those who are diligent and hard workers will gain precious wealth.

God wants all of our life. We too often separate the secular and the sacred, our work life and church life, etc. But God wants to be supreme over every part of our life—without exception. If we were to look at life like a house, he wants the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, closets, study, living room, dining room, attic, basement, and the garage. So often people want to build a chapel in their house in order to cordon Him off from every other room; they don’t want Him coming into the bedroom or the kitchen; they want to lock Him in the chapel and only release Him on Sunday morning. But Jesus will not accept second place. His sacrifice was too great. If He is not in first place—then He has no place. Jesus wants our worship, but He also wants our work in order that He might show Himself within it so that others might see Jesus in us.

Is Jesus the Lord of your life? Does He have a room or the whole house? Can He be seen in your worship and your work? Give Jesus your work, leave laziness in the dust, and be diligent in every task the Lord sets before you for His glory and your joy. Amen.