Work.

Does it ever feel like a four-letter word to you? I confess, it does to me at times. (Honestly, right now is one of those times!) A job that is stressful and disheartening can weigh us down tremendously, but so can the idea of any work. It can feel so negative. So burdensome. So opposite of the life we’re supposed to live.

And when we see work that way, it can infect the fullness of our attitudes, leading us to reflect a blah-ness about everything we do.

I was feeling this rather heavily one morning as I looked ahead to the day. I honestly just didn’t want to do it. Any of it. The employment work was discouraging. The life work interminable. All of it was compounded by a long string of 100-degree days behind us, a forecast that promised much more of the same, and drought with no promise of relief. Life just felt heavy, and I didn’t want to do any of it.

And wouldn’t you know it, that morning, my Bible reading was 1 Thessalonians 1, which begins this way:

Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy:
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace to you and peace.
We always thank God for all of you, making mention of you constantly in our prayers. We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor motivated by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Thessalonians 1:1-3 (CSB) emphasis mine

Verse three stopped me in my tracks, especially considering the teeny glimpse into Thessalonian life that Acts 17 gives us. Paul didn’t get to spend a lot of time in Thessalonica because of the character of the people there. In fact, Acts 17:11 compares the Thessaolonians to the people of Berea, the next town Paul went to, by stating that the Bereans “were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica.” Paul’s ministry in this less-than-noble town had been short-lived, yet there were those who chose to follow Christ. A church was born, even in this town. And I can imagine that the Christians left behind by Paul weren’t responded to well by the crew that both ran Paul out of Thessalonica and followed him to Berea to run him out of there as well.

And yet, they persevered to the point of being highly praised by Paul for their work.

Work produced by faith.

Not by the culture. Not by the demands of life. But by faith. They worked because of their allegiance to God Almighty.

We have a hard time wrapping our heads around how much religion was integrated with every day life for people like the Thessalonians. By becoming Christians, they had to re-evaluate everything. Every aspect of life. And they chose to do it in a way that, according to Paul, was firmly grounded in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Labor motivated by love.

I work because I am supposed to. Whether it’s the income-based jobs God has put before me or the other aspects of work — church, life, family, etc. — I labor from obedience. The thing about obedience, though, is that we sometimes think we’re okay as long as we’re checking off the “obey” box. As long as we’re fulfilling the obligation, that’s all that matters.

But it’s not all that matters. The church in Thessalonica apparently understood that clearly, because their labor was motivated not by obedience or obligation. It was motivated by love. Oh how much we could accomplish with love as our motivation!

Endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

So often my endurance is inspired by necessity. I’m here. I have no other choice but to be here. So I keep on keeping on because there really isn’t another option.

But, there is. If I’m here, it’s because God put me here. If I’m here, it’s because He has a purpose. If I’m here, it’s to accomplish the work set forth by the Lord Jesus Christ to draw all humanity to Himself. To see the fulfillment of the eternal kingdom. If I’m here, it is because of the hope of that fulfillment.

I’m about to clock in and start work for the day. It’s a job that, on the surface, has nothing to do with eternity. I’ll go through the steps, then break for lunch, then come back, then do chores, then wrap up the day to try to get some sleep so I can do it all over again.

What if I remembered that the will of God is not disconnected from daily life? What if I lived today the way the Thessalonian Christians lived it? What if I worked as unto the Lord, recognizing that He has me here for a reason, no matter how pointless the job seems? What if I am motivated by love? Inspired by hope in Christ Jesus?

What might I see if I live that way? I’m ready to find out!