It's Me Again God

95. Work with Enthusiasm

It's me again God,

Thank You for always being with me and joining me at this time when I come to You in prayer. Thank You that You teach me and equip me to serve You. There will always be things that will appear new as I read over the most familiar verses of Your Word as Your Holy Spirit guides me and so I come with anticipation as again I look at this little letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians. Please open my eyes and my heart to Your truth today:

"Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. "Honor your father and mother." This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, "things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth." Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don't threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites."
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:1-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Lord You teach us all, whatever age we are and here you speak to the children, reminding them that they belong to You! That being the case, they need to obey You. Paul reminds us of the fifth commandment You gave to Moses and the Israelites. Here it is likely that You are speaking to us all as children and reminding us of the importance of honouring our parents and regarding them with great respect. Families matter to You and here we see that this command comes with a promise too!  While we are not under the law anymore, we still benefit from living our lives in a way that is pleasing to You.

Bless all who struggle to fulfil this charge to obey, as they bear the emotional and psychological scars of living in fractured families under the authority of parents who have treated them inappropriately. Bless all who come to You for healing. May they find comfort and protection with You.

Lord You give special mention to the role of fathers in bringing up their children. The Amplified Bible expands this so well for us:

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."   EPHESIANS‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭AMP‬‬

While slaves and masters are not familiar images for me in the society I live in, I can look at this passage in terms of employers and employees. Each has a duty but the thing that stands out to me is that in our work, the important thing is that we do Your will with all our heart. When we work, we must work enthusiastically just as if we were working for You directly!

I love the way You speak to Masters too and remind them that in heaven, You have no favourites! You are the Master over us all, no matter what our position is!

Lord You know our particular situation and the circumstances we face in the workplace. Guide us through any difficulties that come up, as we rely on Your Spirit within us to bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self control, (Galatians‬ ‭5:22‬). May we rely on You to give us the right words to say to those we work alongside of and may our actions bring glory to Your Name.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen.