Conclusion:
The Germans have a phrase: "Arbeit Ehrt." That means work brings honor. They also say, "Arbeit Macht das Leben Suss." (Work makes life sweet.) The so-called Protestant work ethic is part of their culture, and even when a strike takes place it is a scandal. Charles Swindoll mentions a sign outside a concentration camp (Dachau) that read "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work makes you free). That was, of course, a lie; meant to make them work all the more.
Brother Lawrence, the famous Catholic, was a cook in a 17th-century French monastery for the Lord, and he sensed God with him in all his daily activity, no matter what he did. The Practice of the Presence of God is a classic on the subject. It isn't so much what we do, but how we do it and whether we do it as unto the Lord and in the name of the Lord (cf. Col. 3:17; Col. 3:23; 1 Cor. 10:31).
There is one solemn warning in Scripture that needs mentioning: "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness" (cf. Jer. 48:10). We must take God's work seriously and not be sluggish or slothful. Billy Graham defines sloth as the sin of doing nothing, it is the root of laziness and is one of the seven deadly sins. So let us gladly do whatever the Lord assigns us to do. We don't have to be perfectionists, just show improvement--with God perfection is the standard, but the direction is the test. "Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" (cf. Matt. 5:48). Soli Deo Gloria!
The Germans have a phrase: "Arbeit Ehrt." That means work brings honor. They also say, "Arbeit Macht das Leben Suss." (Work makes life sweet.) The so-called Protestant work ethic is part of their culture, and even when a strike takes place it is a scandal. Charles Swindoll mentions a sign outside a concentration camp (Dachau) that read "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work makes you free). That was, of course, a lie; meant to make them work all the more.
Brother Lawrence, the famous Catholic, was a cook in a 17th-century French monastery for the Lord, and he sensed God with him in all his daily activity, no matter what he did. The Practice of the Presence of God is a classic on the subject. It isn't so much what we do, but how we do it and whether we do it as unto the Lord and in the name of the Lord (cf. Col. 3:17; Col. 3:23; 1 Cor. 10:31).
There is one solemn warning in Scripture that needs mentioning: "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness" (cf. Jer. 48:10). We must take God's work seriously and not be sluggish or slothful. Billy Graham defines sloth as the sin of doing nothing, it is the root of laziness and is one of the seven deadly sins. So let us gladly do whatever the Lord assigns us to do. We don't have to be perfectionists, just show improvement--with God perfection is the standard, but the direction is the test. "Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect" (cf. Matt. 5:48). Soli Deo Gloria!
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