A boy once asked his father what a preacher does. The Dad replied, “Well, his time is his own, which means he is always on the job. You see, the man who is cursed with punching in a time-clock in the morning is also blessed with the privilege of punching one out in the evening. The preacher teaches, though he must solicit his own classes. He heals, though without pills or knife. He is sometimes a lawyer, often a social worker, something of an editor, a bit of a philosopher, and entertainer; a lecturer, a salesman, a handy decorative piece for public functions, a local representative for every relief movement in the land. He is supposed to be a scholar as well as a promotional man. People come to see him, and he goes to see people continually. And he rejoices with exceeding joy when in the midst of this an opportunity arises to be a genuine personal spiritual help. He visits the sick, marries people, buries the dead, labors to console those who sorrow, and to admonish those who sin, and labors to stay sweet when chided for not calling enough. He plans programs, appoints committees and does their work for them, spends considerable time in keeping people out of each other’s hair, and more time in trying to scramble out himself with the least possible loss. Oh, yes, and between times he prepares a sermon and preaches it on Sunday, to those who do not happen to have any other engagement for the Sunday holiday. Then on Monday he smiles when some jovial chap roars, “What a job—one hour of work a week!” (copied)
Well, we can chuckle (if you are a pastor or know one who is) at this view of the work of the ministry. But there is, of course, a grain or two of truth in it. Paul speaks of the work of the ministry. Jesus prayed “…I have finished the work, which thou gavest me to do.” (John 17:4) Jesus came from heaven on a mission and that mission involved work, much work, climaxing on Calvary when He cried, “It is finished.”
We all have work to do. The consequences of the fall were that by the sweat of his brow man would work the ground, and that sweat and that toil would be the lot of mankind. Work was not the curse, but labor that would require tiresome toil was. So no matter what your calling, you have a job to do and it will not be finished until God calls you to your eternal rest. The key is knowing what He wants you to do and then putting your hand to the plow and doing it to the best of your ability with a positive attitude. Whoever puts his hand to that plow and looks back is not fit (ready) for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)
Clare Boothe Luce, U.S. Congresswoman from Connecticut, (1943-1947) was 75 years of age when someone asked her if she had any regrets. She answered, “Yes, I should have been a better person. Kinder. More tolerant. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I remember a girlhood friend of mine who had a brain tumor and called me three times to come and see her. I was always too busy, and when she died I was profoundly ashamed. I remember that after 56 years.”
So, when one considers work and occupying, it is wise to keep in mind that it is not “busy work” that counts, but work that is meaningful and advancing the calling God has given you and with which He has equipped you. Charles Swindoll in his book Killing Giants, Pulling Thorns said, “Busyness rapes relationships. It substitutes shallow frenzy for deep friendship. It promises satisfying dreams but delivers hollow nightmares. It feeds the ego but starves the inner man. It fills the calendar but fractures the family. It cultivates a program but plows under priorities.”
There is a barrenness in busyness. It involves lots of motion without much movement. It may be the result of a good deal of planning with little or no effort at producing. It is fraught with activity that is minus well directed action. There will be evident many leaves without much if any fruit. It might be the curse of the 21st century, as we stand here on the precipice of “Artificial Intelligence.” What on earth will we do if in seconds some robot “spits” out a paper or outlines a project that would have required days or weeks to have completed just a few years ago? How will we then “Look Busy?” How will we then “Keep Busy?”
Some reading this post may remember a grandma who, on a cold winter day, milked cows, slopped hogs, got the children headed toward the country one-room school house, did a washing and hung it out on a backyard line to stiffen up in the winter chill; mopped the floors, what there was of them, got wood in for the pot-belly stove, pressed the Sunday-go-to meeting clothes for the entire family, baked rolls and bread, made the beds, cleaned the oil lamps and refilled them, churned butter, stewed some apples and baked a cake plus one or two pies so that she could serve her guests Sunday dinner. Oh, did we mention that she had to round up calves that had gotten out of the pastures as well as breaking up a fight between the family dog and a stray dog that had wandered into their yards. This is not to mention repairing the breach in the fence, gathering up eggs, checking on the stable, setting the table, cooking supper and then washing the dishes afterwards, mending some socks for two of the boys to wear the next day and sprinkling the clothes, all before asking herself “Where has the day gone?” Finally, the dear woman sits down at the old pump organ and plays, “When We Come to The End of the Day.” (Adapted)
Well, some of us can remember such women of old. I had a grandmother whose husband died leaving her with four small children to rear. She did so by cleaning houses for others. She brought her three girls and her son in the post Great Depression years (all of whom became productive citizens) to adulthood by menial labor at less than minimum wage. ($1 a day!)
“And He called His ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.” (Luke 19:13)
YOU and GOD 