Toil and Sweat (Part 2)
09/09/07 19:56
Have
you seen the panhandlers on the street corners? They
hold signs that read: “Will work for
food”. Well, my question is simply, “Who
doesn’t?” Please do not think that I am
being callous about the plight of the poor but I
don’t fully understand holding a sign on a
street corner. If I am willing to work, then I am
going to work! If the only job I can find is digging
ditches or flipping burgers, then that’s what
I’ll do. I have been working since I was eleven
years old and I did whatever I had to do. I once had
a job of pulling nails out of 2x4s. One time I worked
at a train wreck that was carrying canned cheese. For
three dollars an hour I spent two days up to my neck
in stinky cheese –Yuck! I believe the premise;
“If a man doesn’t work, he doesn’t
eat.” Over the years I have seen a different
attitude about work in the eyes of the under
privileged. One that really gets to me is when they
think that certain work is beneath them. Their
families go without certain necessities but
“God forbid” that they would humiliate
themselves by applying for a job at McDonalds. I have
seen people act like the church owed it to them to
provide them with groceries and yet they could spend
50 bucks for a carton of cigarettes! Go figure. I
worked in a food pantry down in Zanesville and you
would not believe the number of times able bodied men
and women would come and get food with all kinds of
reasons why they couldn’t work. And because, in
their own eyes, their excuses were legitimate, they
tried to make you feel like you owed them something.
Do you know what I think? I think some people work
hard at trying not to work!
Now, you may be asking yourself, “Pastor Jim, why are you getting down on the unemployed?” Please do not misunderstand. I have no problem helping the poor. In fact, the Bible even commands that we do. No, I am talking about those folks who just don’t want to work. Think about this: If God ordained that we would work by the sweat of our brow until death, and then someone tries to get through life some other way, then isn’t he actually in rebellion against God’s word? If God says that we should work and we think that we would rather not… then we are actually saying that our way is better than God’s. Notice, that I haven’t even brought up the Gospel or Jesus Christ. Do you see that man could be in rebellion of God’s Word without even a thought of Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the Word of God and when man rebels against any words of God, then technically, he rebels against Christ. I know that this is hard to accept but in reality, trying to get through life without carrying your load in the work place is just plain sinful and should be repented of. The problem why this little subject might be so volatile is the fact that there are some folks who (because of truly legitimate reasons) cannot work. And then, there are those who actually could work but don’t. People who are truly disabled should be cared for but remember, even Joni Erickson Tada, who is paralyzed from the neck down, works for a living. This is a heart matter and no one knows what is in the heart of man except the man himself. A man could tell me that he can’t work because of his health and be lying out his teeth –but I wouldn’t know. Only the man himself and God would know the truth. And on the day he stood before God, he’d wish that he would have never scorned God’s Word!
Now, you may be asking yourself, “Pastor Jim, why are you getting down on the unemployed?” Please do not misunderstand. I have no problem helping the poor. In fact, the Bible even commands that we do. No, I am talking about those folks who just don’t want to work. Think about this: If God ordained that we would work by the sweat of our brow until death, and then someone tries to get through life some other way, then isn’t he actually in rebellion against God’s word? If God says that we should work and we think that we would rather not… then we are actually saying that our way is better than God’s. Notice, that I haven’t even brought up the Gospel or Jesus Christ. Do you see that man could be in rebellion of God’s Word without even a thought of Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the Word of God and when man rebels against any words of God, then technically, he rebels against Christ. I know that this is hard to accept but in reality, trying to get through life without carrying your load in the work place is just plain sinful and should be repented of. The problem why this little subject might be so volatile is the fact that there are some folks who (because of truly legitimate reasons) cannot work. And then, there are those who actually could work but don’t. People who are truly disabled should be cared for but remember, even Joni Erickson Tada, who is paralyzed from the neck down, works for a living. This is a heart matter and no one knows what is in the heart of man except the man himself. A man could tell me that he can’t work because of his health and be lying out his teeth –but I wouldn’t know. Only the man himself and God would know the truth. And on the day he stood before God, he’d wish that he would have never scorned God’s Word!
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