Date: 6/17/2008
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: I owe, I owe.....
<br><br>“Daddy, why do you have to go to work everyday?”  There is not a week that goes by where my 8 year old son Jordan doesn't ask me this question.  Regardless of how I form my answer, he still can't seem to get a grip on the fact that work is just a normal part of adult life.  He can't understand why I can't just hang out with him and play all day.  I certainly wish I could play hide and go seek or go to the park with Jordan and Ruby on a daily basis (Kaylee doesn't seem to have much interest in hide and go seek anymore....unless it is hiding from cleaning her room and seeking my wallet), but alas, we enjoy the finer things in life, like eating and having electricity, so off to work we go (Angie too).  I have found that climbing the monkey bars at the park just doesn't seem to satisfy Meriwether Lewis as payment for the juice they send us.  <br><br>The concept of work is just as Biblical as baptism.  The apostle Paul said in 2 Tim. 3:10, “if a man will not work neither should he eat”.  He also said in 1 Tim. 5:8, “if a man provides not for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel”.  As Barney Fife would say, “I would just as soon be called skunk-face as to be called an infidel”.  The wise man Solomon wrote in Proverbs 6:6-11, “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.  How long will you lie there, you sluggard?  When will you get up from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”  Now, I don't know about you, but words like “sluggard” and “infidel” don't sound very complimentary to me. They do not necessarily come across as the types of descriptive terms one would like to have placed on their tombstones.  No doubt....God's writers make it very clear about how he feels regarding those who have the ability work, yet choose to not do so.  In short, it seems that God is so serious about the subject that it just might impact ones eternal resting place....or maybe “non-resting” place would be the better term.<br><br>I think we would all agree that there are many who are not able to work due to one reason or another, such as physical or mental limitations.  And of course, there are those who have worked hard for their entire lives and have been blessed to be able to retire.  But let's get real...there are a number of people who have none of the above circumstances and are very able-bodied, yet choose to do nothing productive with their lives.  Now, our government might enable people with such attitudes to exist, but not with God's blessing.  According to His Word, these people should not eat.  I suppose that sounds somewhat harsh, but I guess God figures that if work is good enough for the ant, then it is good enough for us.<br><br>A reporter once sarcastically asked famed Alabama football coach Bear Bryant if it was true that he could walk on water.  Coach Bryant replied, “Well, I won't say I can or I can't.  But if I do, I do it before most people get up in the morning”.  Golf professional Gary Player said, “The harder you work, the luckier you get”.  Those of us who are blessed to have jobs and  the good health to carry them out should be very thankful for both.  Still....don't forget the importance of hide and go seek....you can play after 5pm you know :)<br><br>     Go the extra mile - Devin<br>