Labor Day or Lazy Day?

Isn’t it ironic that we celebrate “Labor Day” by taking the day off work?Actually, the holiday was birthed in the midst of a very necessary labor movement near the end of the nineteenth century. Back then, many Americans worked twelve hour shifts, seven days a week, eking out a barely survivable wage. Despite new laws regulating child labor, thousands of children as young as five and six worked in factories and mines with the fraction of pay that their low income adult counterparts were making. Most blue collar families were paid so little that their children were forced to quit school to enter the work force just to help provide for their families. It was the Labor Movement that changed laws, working conditions, and created what we know today as the blue collar middle class. It was during the heat of these battles when Labor Day was created.But much has changed in America. Our view of hard work and sense of responsibility for self provision has diminished. Many no longer feel the intrinsic value of work or self-sustenance. And our safety nets have, for many, become a way of life.And maybe that’s why Labor Day for most is now an end of summer celebration with a three day weekend.But hard work is something to aspire to and celebrate. Instilling a strong work ethic is one of the most valuable gifts you can give your kids. Here are some things Christians should understand about a Biblical work ethic:•  Hard work is good! Our God is a working God and he created us after his image. He instructed Adam to work and gave him work responsibility before there was a sin problem. Throughout the Old and New Testaments we are instructed to work hard and take pleasure from it.•  Hard work is fulfilling. It is! Laziness leads to aimlessness and and eventual depression and despair. One of the best things a depressed person can do is work hard and accomplish things. It’s something God has built into us to give us purpose, fulfillment, and happiness.•  Hard work is habitual. Once you begin a routine of working hard, the benefits and fulfillment it brings make it desirable, and thereby habitual. But laziness is like that too. When you let yourself escape responsibility a few times, it can also very quickly develop into a lifestyle. I love the Old Testament law of the sabbath  when God gave that law he said, “Six days you shall labor…” So much for the five day work week. :-)•  Hard work is productive. It is. That’s the definition of work –– “accomplishment." When you work, you produce. As a general principle, people who work harder do better. They just do. They produce more. They wind up having more and they are able to give more. They live with more confidence and security and generosity. Hard work is productive. If you are not working, you are living off of someone else’s production. That’s ok in short periods of time during training or crisis. But as followers of Jesus, we should be producers. We should be known as hard working people who bless others with what that produces.There are some reading this who are physically unable to work. But be careful about giving yourself a pass. I know many severely disabled people who have figured out ways to work hard and produce, despite their physical roadblocks. And I’m not talking about those who use emotional or psychological excuses to not work. For them, working hard would be emotionally and psychologically therapeutic. But there are some who because of major injuries, illnesses, or physical conditions are just not able to work. But all of them would love to trade places with any of us who can.So this Labor Day, let’s do more than grill out and shoot the breeze. Let’s recommit ourselves to be ambassadors of our God by being examples in our workplaces. Never seeing work as something to worship, but always seeing our work as a means to worship God.