Daily Devotional for December 20, 2012

Proverbs 12:24
Work hard, and you will be a leader; be lazy, and you will end up a slave.

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

Recently, I heard someone being interviewed on television about her success, and she said, “All of my life, everything centered on work. My parents got up and went to work every day. That was just what you did… this was how we got ahead… this is what I know.” I thought about my own parents and grandparents… especially my dad’s parents – my Mam-ma Polly and grandfather, Truman. Both worked very hard. They went to bed each night right after supper so they could get up around 3:00 a.m. My grandmother cooked a big breakfast, so that my grandfather would have the energy and strength to work hard all day, and she packed his lunch bucket with a healthy lunch.

While Mam-ma cooked breakfast, my Pap-pa tended to his cattle and fed them. Often, my grandmother would also do some household chores … wash a load of laundry, clean the kitchen, iron some clothes. Shortly before 7:00 a.m., she started up the big old yellow school bus that sat in the front yard. If it was winter, she let it warm up a bit before she started her morning route. Then she worked all day as a chairside assistant for a local dentist, while my grandfather operated heavy construction equipment as part of a road crew for our county.

My grandmother picked up her bus riders after school, made the route back to her home, and then she started dinner (and it was never Hamburger Helper!) She worked in her garden, sewed and made hand-pieced quilts, handled household chores, and played with my sister, brother and me when we visited (which was at least once a week).

From the time my grandmother was a little girl of about ten years old, she worked… gathering potatoes for a local farmer, picking strawberries in the spring, carrying firewood for a neighbor, and more. I learned a lot about hard work from my grandparents. And as I have said before…while they virtually scratched out a living all of their lives, I thought they were incredibly rich and successful.
This scripture is about more than working hard for a paycheck. In truth, if you want anything in life, you have to work hard for it. Laziness will make you a slave – and not just to other people upon whom you may depend for the basics of survival… food, clothing and shelter. If you are lazy in how you handle your health and fitness, you will become a slave to doctors, obesity and the troubles it brings, and more. If you are lazy in your relationships, you will become the slave of loneliness and sorrow. If you are lazy in your Christian faith, you will become a slave to the devil. You will give him room – and license – to create frustration and havoc in your life.

Hard work may sound like no fun… but slavery is the real enemy. The key to success and joy is to be responsible and dependable… to work hard… to show up to class or work on time (or early!) and give 100% of your effort… to put determination into your diet and exercise regime…to cultivate your relationships with others… and especially to nurture your relationship with our Heavenly Father.

If you want to follow the ultimate role model for a hard worker, look no further than Jesus Christ. The KING of KINGS was busy every day, traveling and teaching, healing, loving others and demonstrating grace and mercy. Surely His example should demonstrate how important these traits are! If hard work was considered vital to Jesus, shouldn’t it be doubly so for us? How hard are you working these days… in all areas of your life? Where have you become lazy and a bit of a slacker? Isn’t it time to renew your efforts and determination to be free from the slavery of the devil… to live like a leader for the LORD? There is no time like the present… what are you waiting for?

©2012 Debbie Robus