“So now, beloved ones, stand firm, stable, and enduring. Live your lives with an unshakable confidence. We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures.”
(1 Corinthians 15:58 TPT)
“Labor” implies or overtly says “work.”
Women labor to give birth. Parents labor to raise children. Children labor to care for elderly parents.
Employees labor to do their jobs.
Society has labored under the stresses of the last 3 1/2 years.
We talk of people who do or give certain things as a labor of love.
God, in our labor, give us strength, wisdom, and grace.
“You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” (Psalm 128:2 NIV)
“This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 NIV)
God, in our labor, give us what we need, prosperity, and contentment.
“The unbelievers worship what they make—their wealth and their work. They idolize what they own and what they make with their hands, but their things can’t talk to them or answer their prayers. Their possessions will never satisfy. Their futile faith in dead idols and dead works can never bring life or meaning to their souls. Blind men can only create blind things. Those deaf to God can only make a deaf image. Dead men can only create dead idols. And everyone who trusts in these powerless, dead things will be just like what they worship—powerless and dead. So trust in the Lord, all his people. For he is the only true hero, the wraparound God who is our shield!” (Psalm 115:4-9 TPT)
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Colossians 3:23-24 NIV)
God, in our labor, help us trust you, not earthly idols, and work faithfully, diligently, and joyfully as we serve the Lord Christ in our work. We ask in his name, Amen.
(adapted from a September 5, 2022 post)