“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
- Colossians 3:23 ESV
I have been thinking about Labor Day.
Mostly because my human is home.
Dogs notice things like that.
Normally, there is a rhythm around here. My human gets up, drinks coffee, reads the Bible, gets dressed, and heads off to work. Then I wait for him to come back.
I have never completely understood why humans work so much.
From my perspective, you leave home, work all day, come back tired, and spend the money you earned on things—including dog food.
Labor Day is interesting. We celebrate work by taking a day off from it.
Maybe that is exactly why it is worth thinking about.
Work matters.
Long before offices, deadlines, paychecks, and Monday mornings, God gave Adam work to do in the garden. Work was part of God’s design before sin entered the world.
There is dignity in doing what God places before us.
Somebody opens the store. Somebody drives the truck. Somebody prepares the meal. Somebody stays late.
Somebody cares for those who cannot care for themselves.
Much of what keeps this world moving happens quietly.
And often, nobody notices.
But God does.
Paul said, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord.”
The ordinary things can become acts of worship when they are offered to an extraordinary God.
But here is something Labor Day ought to remind us of: There is work we should do, and there is work we need to stop trying to do.
The Gospel does not tell us to work our way to God.
It tells us that Jesus has already done the work we could never do.
Religion says, “Work harder. Do more. Be better. Maybe you will finally be enough.”
The Gospel says we could never save ourselves.
Jesus lived the life we could not live, died for our sins, and rose again in victory.
And when Jesus said, “It is finished,” He was declaring that the work necessary for our salvation had been completed.
That changes everything.
We do not work for God’s love.
We work because we have received it.
We do not serve to earn grace.
We serve because grace changes us.
Our good works do not save us. But when Christ saves us, He changes the way we live.
The unnoticed task matters.
The difficult job matters.
The person in front of us matters.
Not because we are trying to earn heaven, but because heaven has changed our hearts.
So work hard.
Be faithful.
Serve when nobody applauds.
But remember: Your salvation does not rest on what you accomplished today.
Your hope is not in your résumé, your title, or how much you checked off your list.
It rests in what Jesus accomplished.
And that work is finished.
Tomorrow will bring another list, another responsibility, and another opportunity to prove how busy we are.
But for now, maybe the list can wait.
Maybe faith is sometimes knowing the difference between the work God has given us to do…
And the work Jesus has already finished.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
