Fear No Fear

“Do not work for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has set His seal on Him” (John 6:27, MEV). Jesus loves us enough to keep us motivated. Work is everywhere. So is toil. Work is godly. Toil is demonic. Work is to exert oneself physically or mentally especially in sustained effort for a purpose or necessity. Toil is something by which one is held fast or inextricably involved, a long strenuous fatiguing labour. Those are the Merriam-Webster definitions. And they hold up. Toil is part of the curse (Genesis 3:17). Work is part of our purpose given by God (Genesis 2:8). It wasn’t humanity that was cursed. But we have to deal with the consequences of our rebellion. Any work outside of God tends toward toil. Any work inside of and aligned with God is simply work. What is the purpose of work? It isn’t to meet our needs (survival), because God meets ALL our NEEDS. It shouldn’t be to get stuff. That’s greed and covetousness (James 4:3). The godly purpose of work is to help those around us. To be a blessing. To make this world a better place by our efforts here. We align with God, hand in hand, and in Jesus do our work. Whether that is specifically work in the ministry (like a full-time teacher, preacher, evangelist, etc) or work as a nurse, barber, janitor, houseperson, etc. where our lives are witnesses to those around us as we accomplish other things. We’re the smile at customer service. We’re the patience helping people find what they need. We’re the blessing bringing food and beverages. We’re the helpers, the smilers, the sources of JOY – whether we ‘feel’ happy or not. We’re the ones people are glad to see walk into a room. We’re the calm in the storm. We’re the ones giving. We’re the little Jesuses making a difference in this world. We’re resting in Jesus, working His Will, and demonstrating the love of God to all those around us. It’s not easy, it is simple. We get our strength to do it from God and Jesus keeps up our motivation by always pointing us to the Father. To what it is all REALLY about. To the WHY of our work.