An Honest Day’s Wages
There is no better feeling of satisfaction than having worked a full day, and knowing that the money you made was earned honestly.
But a strong work ethic is compromised in one of two ways: either by being lazy and not working at all or not working as you should for your wages. But it also happens by committing fraud and cheating in the work place. This happens in different ways: paying under the table, abusing your student card, avoiding taxes, or working illegally.
Sad to say, there is a lot of this happening at the workplace in our city. The net effect of dishonesty in the work place is the erosion of trust. Only on the basis of honesty and trust can we have a sound, healthy economy.
Without God in the center of our lives, economies collapse. I think of what God says in the Bible. The whole law of God is summarized in two ways: loving God first of all and then loving our neighbor as ourselves. There is no express command to love ourselves. We love ourselves too much already. Greed, coveting, and deception show the true nature of our heart. It’s not good. We can’t change ourselves. We love ourselves too much. That’s the problem.
We need a new heart that only God can give through Christ. Only then will we desire to love God and our neighbor. Only then will change begin in the workplace. Our habits begin to change; so does the work place environment with the building of trust and respect between fellow workers and the boss.
God knows how economies should work and how the work place should be. One of His commandments is “You shall not steal.” As you discover God’s will from His Word, you realize there are three legitimate ways of making money: 1] through working, 2] through receiving gifts, 3] through inheritance.
With that in mind, we know what an honest day’s work is. You trust that God will provide for you and your family. He will provide your needs for the future. In this way you also teach your children what it means to work in God’s way and you become an example to them. And you are also an example to others. But it begins, not with others, but it begins with me.
May 1, 2019
