Fact Check, 57

~ Just Work Hard ~     

Bible Quotation?  ~  “Work hard and success will follow.”

The Bible Says  ~  This statement (and this concept) is not in the Bible.  It is based upon a half-truth—that hard work is good and sometimes rewarded.

Working Hard Is Good  ~  Certainly the Scriptures teach that it is man’s duty to work hard for his employer in return for his pay.  “Servants [employees], respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ.  Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do.  And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you're really serving God.  Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free” (Ephesians 6:5-8, The Message).  There are many other similar passages including: Colossians 3:22-24 and Titus 2:9-10.

We are to work hard to provide for one another.  “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).  The Apostle Paul put it this way: “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10b). 

There are a number of proverbs (general truths—which are not universally true) which also make this clear.  “He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, but he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding” (Proverbs 12:11).  “The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich” (Proverbs 13:4).  “In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23).

Our Example  ~  As Jesus Christ walked on earth He was a consistently hard worker—yet He had no earthly possessions or even a place of His own.  “And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head’” (Luke 9:58).  And He told His disciples: “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master” (Matthew 10:24). 

The Apostles  ~  Working hard did not guarantee the Apostles success.  All the Apostles suffered at various times and ways on earth.  Consider the most notable example of the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 11:23b-31 provides a summary).  Success on earth is never guaranteed by working hard. 

The Significance  ~  Working hard for the kingdom of God may not usually pay off while on earth but it pays huge dividends in the eternal kingdom.  Jesus said, “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly” (Matthew 6:3-4).  He also said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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