Intro

The tension here will be on how much time we spend in our lives working. That can either be meaningless time, or we can see our work as worship. When we do our work as unto the Lord, we turn our work into our worship. 

Passage

Colossians 3:23 (NLT) “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”

Body

1. Whatever you do, break the curse of laziness

• This generation wants to get rich, quick, minimal effort and maximum profit. 
• God made work. He did it. He does it. 
• What God hates about laziness – unuseful, unfruitful, and unaccomplished
• What laziness is like:
  1. Proverbs 26:13–16 (NLT) — 13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!” 14 As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed. 15 Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth. 16 Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.
  2. Fear (lion on the road)
  3. Comfort (turns over in bed)
  4. Apathy(don’t even lift it to their mouth)
  5. Pride (smarter than seven wise counselors)

• The curse of laziness
  • Proverbs 24:30–34 (NLT) — 30 I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one with no common sense. 31 I saw that it was overgrown with nettles. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down. 32 Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson: 33 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— 34 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
  • A lazy person will be surrounded by misery
  • A lazy person will be pounced by poverty
  • A lazy person will be robbed by scarcity
• God honors effort—work is part of His design.
  • Useful - When something is useful, it has purpose. Purpose is a blessing. 
  • Fruitful - God commanded everything He created to be fruitful
  • Accomplished - God gave us the model in that he worked for six days, then called it blessed, and had the blessing of accomplishment 
  • Bro Roy - let them cut the grass
• If you want to break the back of laziness, do that scripture in reverse, be filled with faith, pursue long-term reward, resist apathy, humble yourself

2. Balance So you don’t Burnout

• Just as intrinsic to nature as work and fruitfulness is, so is rest. 
  1. Work demands rest – Output demands input – Fruitfulness demands dormancy 
  2. Rest is a blessing from God! 
  3. It’s important to have that in balance. 
• Exodus 23:12 (NLT) – “Six days are set aside for work, but on the seventh day you must stop working…”
• Mark 6:31–32 (ESV) — 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.
• SABBATH - mean to cease, desist, rest
  1. It is Holy - means it is declared to be special by God. It is set apart for God
  2. It is Covenantal - It was a sign of the people of God, they were blessed to take a rest.
  3. It is Prophetic - One day we will enter into the rest of God
• Why we dishonor it
  1. We feel that if we take the day off, everything will implode. 
  2. We are so wound up that we can’t even make ourselves rest. 
  3. We don’t revere it, make it holy, see it as special, like God does. 
• Making it practical
  1. 24 hour period every week where you cease from labor, honor God, enjoy creation. 
  2. In our Sabbath, we are giving our drive to God. 

3. Being Crooked Will Cost You

• Three words that should never be in your working practices
  • Corruption - Refusing to get things in an underhanded way.
    1. Nation of corruption - Roads built one inch thick. 
  • Cheating - Breaking the rules in order to get ahead.
    1. Pro-Athletes doing drugs to win. 
  • Coverups - Anything that you should be shy of may need to be looked at.
    1. Being creative to come up with stories.
• Throughout my ministry there have been people that will ask me to do things that are questionable, and it would benefit them or me, and it shocks me that people are so prone to cut corners with integrity. 
• Dad during Katrina 
• Proverbs 11:1 (NLT) — 1 The LORD detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights.
  • Gain favor with God
• Proverbs 2:7 (NLT) – “He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.”
  • Guarded by God
• Proverbs 28:6 (NLT) – “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich.”
  • Less stress
• Proverbs 10:9 (NLT) – “People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.”
  • Avoid exposure
• A good reputation

4. A Job Well Done Honors God

• God loves a job well done:
  1. God is an excellent craftsman - “He saw that it was good”
  2. “Well done, good and faithful servant”
  3. A symbol of blessing is wisdom revealing itself in good work
     1. Moses creating a tabernacle in the wilderness
     2. Bezalel crafting things with perfection
     3. Solomon’s creativity and craftsmanship
     4. Joseph rising to the top of every scenario in which he was placed
        1. Proverbs 22:29 (NLT) – “Do you see people skilled in their work? They will serve before kings.”
     5. Daniel serving kings
• The enemy of a job well done is 
  1. A Job half done
  2. Growing up with chores - dirt still on the car, side yard not cut, everything shoved in the closet
• Colossians 3:23 (NLT) – “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

• Three benefits of excellent work
  • Others enjoy it
  • It glorifies God
  • It gives you favor

5. Generosity Beats Greed

• Proverbs 3:9-10 (NLT) – “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.”
• Jewish system of generosity
  • Tithes
  • Offerings
  • Alms
• Generosity keeps greed in its place - keeps the idol of greed at bay

To summarize:

• If you WORK HARD
• Have BALANCE
• Don’t CHEAT
• Work with EXCELLENCE
• Stay GENEROUS
• God will bless you in your work

Time of prayer for workers and businesses. 

Closing

We began with the question: Does God care about my work? The answer is yes—because your work is worship.