Walking with the Wise #196: Unto the Lord

“A servant who deals wisely has the king's favor,

but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.”
—Proverbs 14:35

Living for the Lord has practical benefits in every day life. If we are following the Lord, we will want to do our best, because we are really working for the Lord, not for men. As Paul noted,

“Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free”—Ephesians 6:5-8.

Doing our job unto the Lord will help us incur favor with our employer. Just like Joseph. He did his job so well that he found favor in the sight of his employer as the Bible says,

“The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate”—Exodus 39:2-6.

God was so with Joseph and he did his job so well that his master favored him tremendously. And later, when he was in prison, he still continued to live for the Lord, and then found favor in the sight the warden that he was entrusted with the oversight of other prisoners,

“But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed”—Exodus 39:21-23.

God will be our advocate when we live for Him. If we do our work unto the Lord, our employers will entrust more to our care. If we live in a shameful manner, however, we could be demoted or fired.

The best thing we can do is live unto the Lord, not to men, because we know that when we do so, we are giving ourselves to God first and letting Him become our champion and advocate. Let’s do it today. Amen.