One of my favorite sports movies is the film Rudy. The true story of a teen,raised in a blue collar family, who would rather to go to school and play football at Notre Dame than work in the steel mill like his father, brother, and the ancestors before him.
Rudy is a 165 pound kid, too small to play collegiate football, and can't get into Notre Dame because of his grades. The priest at Notre Dame suggests Rudy go to a junior college nearby until he can get his grades up to the level needed to be accepted at Notre Dame.
Along this never ending trail of achievement Rudy learns that he has dislexia, but that doesn't stop him from overcoming his disability by working hard. Once he is accepted at Notre Dame, he tries out for the football team. When he doesn't make the team, he keeps trying out until he finally makes it on the practice squad. This only happened because the coaches loved his heart and his work ethic. In some ways Rudy was literally a tackling dummy for the starting squad, but each time he was taken down and no matter how hard the hit, he got right back up.
Even though Rudy chose not to be a blue collar worker like the heritage of his family, he did carry with him that same blue collar mentality of "working hard" to succeed.
We all know that hard work pays off whether you are a Christian or not. But what about Christians? Is it okay to be a sluggard at work?
In Proverbs God gives us the model for "hard work" by referring to the ant:
Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
So God wants us to be as diligent as an ant. Hmm, how does that work?
In the Book of Ecclesiastes King Solomon gives us the formula for success:
1. Seek to please God in all you do.
Ecclesiastes 2:24- Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.
2. Find enjoyment in your work and daily life.
Ecclesiastes 3:22- So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?
3. Never attempt to substitute scholarship for obedience.
Ecclesiastes 12:12-14- And further My son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all.
For God will bring every work into judgement, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.
And of course, with King Solomon being acknowledged as the wisest man ever, how can we not forget adding "wisdom" to the formula for hard,diligent work. For wisdom brings success.
Ecclesiastes 10:10- If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success.
Who would have thought that one of the tiniest of insects, the ant, would represent all that we are to be in our work habits?
One of the more memorable movie quotes comes from Maximus, in the film Gladiator:
"What we do in life echoes in eternity."
What we do in our lifetime and how we chose to live that life will be remembered long after we have passed on. This is how working hard brings honor to God.
In Ecclesiastes 7:1 it says that, "A good name is better than precious ointment,
And the day of death than the day of one's birth."
If you've chosen to live and do the will of God in your life then you've built a name for yourself through living a life of "Honor". People will recognize your life just by the mere mention of your name. And what you do in life will make an impact for generations to come.
I will attempt to separate the wise and the foolish, with some help from King Solomon, on my next post. That should be fun.
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