Due What You Do

What if the following was your story:

You’re up early on Monday, getting ready for your first day at work. Your new uniform is crisp & professional as you seek to put your best foot forward as the new office supply store customer service attendant.
You’ve been given several “How to” manuals, 3 days of on-the-job training and an override key for product returns. You’re all set.
Not long after you start, you begin to realize that the job, although occasionally exciting, really doesn’t have enough customer traffic to keep you busy throughout the day. You look over the manuals but the writing seems old and tedious. Furthermore, you begin to bend protocol on some returns in the name of ‘customer satisfaction’. It’s still a good job for which you’re truly grateful and you see it as you’ve just found ways to get more comfortable in your position.
Payday arrives.
You look at your check stub and you’re a bit puzzled at the amount. It’s not the taxes or other withholdings, it’s just that the net pay is surprisingly small. You meet with management to have them explain the situation.
The manager explains, saying he understands where you may have misunderstood. He tells you that you really haven’t taken the initiative to make sure that the shelf items are stocked and arranged during downtime. He also says that a few obvious rules haven’t been followed in regards to returns and that on more than a few occasions, the breaks and allotted lunch times have encroached on the time you were expected to be ‘on duty’.
The rest of the meeting goes with ease, the manager doesn’t raise his voice to indicate that you’re in any kind of jeopardy of being fired. He simply says, “I will pay you for the job that you do. You have been hired to do more than what you’re doing – the choice is yours but you can’t expect the advertised pay if you’re not doing the advertised job. I believe you can do better.”

Here’s The Word;

Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Of course, this is an easy example and hopefully makes the point clearly, but I suspect that it may be a little soft of the consequences. Many times we don’t take into account how our words or actions are such blatant deviations from the position we’re appointed to and if we’re ever confronted – out come the excuses. I don’t think that God is moved by our excuses as if He’ll turn a blind eye to an improper choice. He simply prepares the payment for the choice. We learn by the consequences of our actions. I know that not everyone agrees but I believe that once we’re saved, we cannot be ‘unsaved’ so even as poorly as our choice represent Christ , even the worst consequences aren’t tantamount to having your salvation taken away.
We don’t work TO BE saved, we work because WE ARE saved.

This really is to be an encouragement. The Bible IS our “How To” manual and in addition to the joy of a life blessed by obedience, there are also more than a few crowns that will be given to the workers who do the work – both of these will be to the glory of Christ.

Biblically, we’re told to sow things that produce a way better reaping than the paycheck in the story above.

Proverbs 18:11 The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward

Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

In closing; be encouraged and be passionate about doing the work you’ve been given. Read the How to manual and see how too, Immanuel did the work prepared for Him and reaped a name above every name (Phil 2:8-9). His obedience is our example. Yes, Heaven everlasting is an awesome gift of grace wholly undeserved but that is God's doing. He’s also given us work to do and He’s prepared to pay generously but much of what you’re due is according to what you do.


In Him,
Cros