For Some People Work is Their 'god'

I am noticing more things as I age. This post will focus on work and the attitude of workers.

For some people work is their god. This may not be very many people, but these people are highly motivated and often successful. They may not always live for work but they love to be working. They are there; wherever work is, nearly every day and have a tendency to work from wherever they are on their day off. These people are tough to take on vacation. They don't know how to not be working. It usually is what they live for.

For some; maybe most here in the USA, work is merely a means to an end. This is where 'working for the weekend' is realized. These people work to have money to spend on what they want to be doing. They work because they have to to survive and pay bills. Few, if any, with this attitude are valuable employees. Their goal is to work just hard enough to stay employed and then escape as soon as possible to take care of the god they worship; themselves and the pursuit of ...whatever pleasure, entertainment, sport, recreation, etc. that they would be doing all the time if they had the money.

For a few, they work to glorify God. These people often mess up on how this works itself out. They want their lives to point toward something greater. They recognize there is a God and they need to serve Him. New Testament teachings tell Christians to work as if they are working for their Lord; even if, their earthly boss is their slave owner. There are bosses who treat people like slaves. People who work to glorify God are themselves works in progress. They want to work hard and with a great attitude so the God they love is honored by their labor. The Hebrew words in Genesis where God places Adam in the garden point to Adam being put there to work the garden and worship God by his obedience in caring for it. That didn't last long; about 5 minutes. But in effort and productivity, it should be difficult to tell these people apart from the first group mentioned.

Thanks to our culture of entitlement there are a chunk of people who refuse to work believing that it is the governments job to provide for and take care of them. This is the maturity level of a toddler who has never grown out of needing diapers. This perpetual cycle of laziness is destructive and wastes the ingenuity and creativity that God has placed in every person. It is extremely difficult to help these people turn their lives around and become productive members of society.

Where do you fit in? Why do you work? How hard do you work? What motivates you? What is your attitude toward your boss? What is your attitude toward the god you think you know? What is your attitude toward the God revealed in the Bible? Whom does your life and work honor? How do you know for sure that your thinking and motives are correct, accurate and right?

Fragile Communication

This is from my (Darla's) notebook from who knows where and from an unknown date. Just came across it 2 nights ago and we thought it just might be relevant to all relationships. Just like how Scott and I are arguing over how to word that last sentence.

We live in a fragile world--everything is fragile from ants to plants to animals. All of creation is fragile but just won't admit it. Because we are fragile, we are easily wounded and this makes it difficult to know what we are thinking and how we feel.

Because we are confused about our own thoughts and feelings it makes it difficult to communicate. The fact of the matter is, sin affects us all in this way. So if you are confused because we are all fragile and wounded also, it's no wonder it is so hard to communicate. This doesn't mean just speaking and hearing words, but real communication, which is connecting below the surface where we can reach in and touch each others souls.

To know and be known is at the core of our deepest desires and needs. Most of us think we are communicating well because we have been doing our best or what we believe is our best or normal. What we often fail to realize is that sin has so tainted or impaired our abilities that what we think is deep communication is merely skimming across the surface.