Labor Day - Work

Work is good. Work is necessary for the fulfillment of every human being. Work is required of every person according to his or her capabilities and talents, so sayeth the Scripture. All of us must work to survive, live, grow and profit and be all that we can be and as God intended us to be.Our very own America was built on hard work, and is in fact itself a work in progress. The progress depends upon us, we the people, how hard we work and how we make things happen. The majority of we the American people are hard workers. And, the harder and the better we work, the better America and all of us are. To be sure, nothing comes easy in this life, nothing. Everything we have or enjoy is the product of hard work by someone, whether you, or me, or someone else. You and I must do our share, accomplish our calling for the very short time we have on this precious earth. Life, said the wisest man of old King Solomon, is but a vapor here today and gone so soon tomorrow. We should make every working day count to the fullest.Pioneers built our country. They were men and women who did little but work hard morning till night. They farmed land never before productive. They raised animals and used them for work and feed. They built houses, and churches, and City Halls. They built roads and bridges. They built autos and trucks. They built hospitals and invented medicines. They designed and manufactured clothing. They created places for entertainment and worship. They built elaborate and majestic campuses for education and things theological. They built laboratories and science centers and they sent us deep into space. They were then and we are now the workers who made America great, America, the most exciting, creative human and social experiment in all of history. You and I should be proud of them and we should be proud to be workers like they were. The more we work, the better we are, caught up, energized and thrilled by the spirit of America, our exceptional opportunity to pursue our dreams and to build our future. America and those who believe in what it stands for are indeed EXCEPTIONAL and we have been blessed by EQUALLY EXCEPTIONAL opportunity. As we work, we should do everything possible to protect and defend the opportunities, lifestyles and freedoms which America offers.How wonderful it is that the talent and ability of every individual God-Made is different, unique. It is marvelous indeed that every single person has talent and gifts which are in fact different. That is true divine diversity. None of us are better at least not in the sight of God, but different only. Each of us has our own special CALLING. So, no matter who you are, YOU are special and it is your right but every bit as importantly your duty to utilize those God-given talents to the fullest. It is your dutyto fulfill your calling. So then, we should not be concerned with what others think norshould we judge what we do and how we work by the standards of others. Nor shouldwe be inhibited by their criticism. For we need to know ourselves, be true to thatspecial self and soul which God has created and through prayer and meditation, cometo a full recognition of those talents and be the very person God intended that you andI be. We can fail, but we can bounce back. The opportunity for growth and change isstill available in America, thank God. Ignore rejection and focus on your calling.So then, my fellow Americans, you may be called to be a mother. Be all that you canbe as a mother for the sake of your children and do your God-given calling with all ofyour might. Or perhaps you are secretary, or babysitter. Perhaps you clean for aliving. Recognize all such work as a calling and do your calling with all of your might.Or perhaps you are plumber, electrician, landscaper, restaurant worker. Do yourcalling with all of your might and as you can, as unto the Lord. Or perhaps you arelawyer, accountant, radio salesperson, financial planner. Do your calling with all ofyour might. And if you are the President of anything, including the President of ourgreat United States, you perhaps have a calling with higher standards, duties anddemands. No one should do a calling better than you WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!So, we work, we produce and as we do, we should expect return which of courseincludes money and profit. We work for economic growth and benefit, for the fruit ofour labors. We follow the biblical prescription that we can expect even with minimumwork product the return of that work one for one. Or perhaps, five to one. Or even asScripture indicates, perhaps as much as ten to one or more as we diligently developand exploit those talents and capabilities through hard work. The money return fromour work, efforts, creativity and initiative is blessed by Scripture. That money returnis right, as we become work men and work women worthy of our hire. We plant, asScripture says, and Mother Nature waters and it is GOD who gives the increase so theScriptures say. It is a good thing to make money and to be rewarded for our work.Money supports. Money helps others. Money creates opportunity. The best of us atwork, hard work, is exactly what this world of so many ENTITLED needs now morethan ever. In fact, hard and productive work is so necessary for this world ofentitlements in which we live in order for it to survive and continue. It is well andgood indeed to help those all in real need. But all who can, any and all includingthose receiving entitlements, should work as they can.But today, unfortunately it seems, there are those supposedly progressive in thinkingwho wish to tell us that profit is wrong, especially in excess. That profit made is theresult of GREED at work. Profit they say is not as a result of hard work or specialskills, but rather the exploitation of others. Ignore them. You are worthy of the profitand gain of anything you produce at any level of life. The more you invest as a mother,the better your child, perhaps better than others. Enjoy the fruit, the profit of yourlabors. When you build something, revel in the fruit of your labors and do it with all ofyour might, and better than others. For no matter what progressives or others wouldsay, YOU DID IN FACT BUILD IT, and you did build it yourself. In fact, so much ofwhat is built would not have been built without you or me. Revel in, enjoy and profitfrom anything and everything YOU BUILT!But work produces much more than money. Those who understand the value of workrealize full well that the doing well of anything is the reward itself! The satisfaction,the fulfillment, the full expression of the self among mankind and before God are THEBEST REWARDS. They are indeed more valuable than money for money comes andgoes. But the rewards of work well done last a lifetime and are in fact eternal. Wecreate an earthly balance sheet, personal financial and loss statements here and now,but it is the ETERNAL balance sheet which really counts. Nothing goes with you, nomatter what you leave behind, but only the heavenly balance sheet you create. Forthere is always something more, often much more than the work itself or the profittherefrom. There is good, often enormous good in work well done and even veryspiritual good. See that clearly as part of the goal of your calling and WORK whichonly adds to the return and the enjoyment.So, the work we do can be not only for money, or profit, but for non-profit. For worthycauses. For the good of society in which we live. For all humanity, especially those inneed. For the Christian Church and for the Christ we love and serve. For blooddrives. For HIV awareness and treatment. For feeding and sheltering the homeless.For carrying the message of the Gospel to forsaken and needy parts of America and theworld. Shepherding and guiding children. Tending to the needs of the elderly.Visiting and comforting those in prison.THE WORK OF THE LORD AT WORK FOR ALL MANKIND, AS WE ARE CALLED.All of these things make us what we should be before the Lord and our fellow man.So many of us are people of faith. But our faith, sayeth Scripture, without works isdead. Whatever you believe, whatever your faith, there is no way for anyone to knowwhether or not it is real except by your works. Talk is cheap. But by the fruits of yourlabors your fellow human beings will know you. If there is in fact a work of God inyou, a CALLING, a life objective, the works that you do will prove to others who youare. What you and I do not do also proves who we are. The great thinking DietrichBonhoeffer said that not to act is to act. Negative actions, doing nothing, can be aspotent negatively as actual action itself.Unfortunately, there are those who do deceitful works and works of iniquity. They areknown for their fraudulent and deceitful acts. They work not for the good of mankind,but only for themselves, for ego, for elicit gain in a deceitful way. Their works andtheir lives are in vain. William Shakespeare said that the evil that men do lives afterthem, the legacy they make and that evil is the only thing remembered here and ineternity.So, it is our duty to study, to grow ourselves in our career and constantly makeourselves better, so that we can show ourselves approved as work men and women,understanding the objectives, values and priorities which are ours, always growing inour understanding, especially the Scriptures so that we can be approved by God beforehim as well as man. Learning, whether a trade or in law, or by gaining experience andgrowing or by learning from others, or the school of hard knocks, and by mistakes,learning standards of excellence to which we can aspire so that we can be all, ALL wecan be, working with all of our might knowing in this world that indeed the night iscoming where no man can work. Work while you can and the best you can.In this life, we slow down, age or perhaps lose interest or motivation, and of courseenergy and our ability to work dissipates or even ends. With that ends opportunityand potential and we may not have finished what we are called to do. Some retire, orquit, or are forced to retire prematurely. Some of us are fortunate enough to finishand accomplish our objectives and purposes, while others can not. For us, we arefortunate that even Jesus of Nazareth said in John’s Gospel that he had in factfinished the work for which the Father had sent him. He had accomplished Hisobjectives, fulfilled His purposes and He did so to His last dying breath. Our goal, likeHIS should be to finish our work, the work for which we were sent by God and meantto do. That is the greatest fulfillment this life can offer.We are called upon by God Almighty to live every day to the fullest. CARPE DIEM myfellow Americans, seize the day. It is the day which the Lord hath made and for you towork and be productive. Worry not about tomorrow, or the criticism, expectations oreven the rejections of any man. It has its own problems-evil-which you can not controlor do anything about. But, rather think in terms of how precious every minute ofevery hour of every day is, and rejoice in that. Maximize the opportunity that minutebrings and, whatever your hand finds to do, YOUR CALLING, do it with all of yourmight. Every God-given minute is indeed an opportunity there once never to return.So that everything we do, everything no matter how menial works together for good.The joy of living is so special. We are told by our Lord that He is come that we mighthave life in its most ABUNDANT form and that our joy, OUR TOTAL JOY may be full.There is joy in every moment, as we work, as we rest, as we play, as we love others andas we understand who we are and:BE ALL THAT WE CAN BEThose who love to work and love as much to be productive and make things happenknow that the ultimate reward for such work is:THE VERY WORK ITSELFNo matter the accolades of man, or profit, or any other earthly benefit, the ultimatereward, the ultimate satisfaction is the work itself. Nothing feels better to any rightthinkingperson than a job well done, having done the best you can with all of yourmight.So then, for the Christian, there is something even greater than works. There isGRACE, saving grace. And no manner of works can ever equal that. The grace at Godat work trumps the works of any man, but when added to works, leads to the completefulfillment of that life. We can and should be proud of the works we do, but the workof God in Jesus Christ, saving grace through Him is the greatest work of all. Thecombination of grace producing work, the right work is the very best thing in life.So, my fellow Americans, work hard. Work well, with purpose. Know your calling. Dowhat you were CALLED to do, and do it in each and every minute, hour and day ofyour life. Do what your Creator would have you do and you will find fulfillment in thatwork and in your life. It matters not whether you are housewife or President,millionaire or middle class, never forget that:YOU AND YOUR WORK ARE CRITICALLY IMPORTANTYOU AND YOUR WORK ARE UNIQUE, DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHERSWe need not the approval or recognition of mankind however enjoyable that may be.We need to work to be approved by God, who knows us, our every thought and deed.His approval is all that matters.I and the Crawford Broadcasting Company honor all of the men and women inAmerica who work, and work hard, and make America, family and friends, and all ofus so much better and especially those who work as unto the Lord. Find the work youlove to do, really love to do and you will never work a day in your life!God bless you work men and women worthy of your hire and it is because of you that:GOD WILL BLESS AMERICA