Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord!

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain”(1 Corinthians 15:58).

What is tomorrow (Sept. 3)?  It is Labor Day.  What do you know about Labor Day?  Labor Day is a “workers holiday”.  It is a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.  Today, as we celebrate this Labor Sunday, I want to ask 3 questions to you all.  And I will try to answer those 3 questions based on the Scriptures.  I hope and pray that we all can learn from the Scriptures and be obedient to His words so that we may glorify God.

First question is “How long should we work?”  How many days should we work within a week?

This is what the Scriptures Deuteronomy 5:13-14 says: “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.”  The Scriptures commands us to work six days but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord.  We must rest.  May God give you rest and peace to those who came to the church in this Lord’s Day and praise and worship God.

Second question is “For what should we work?”

We must work for the Lord. We must do the work of the Lord.  This is what the Scriptures 1 Corinthians 15:58 says: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”  We must always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord.  We must stand firm.   We must let nothing move us in doing the work of the Lord.  Let us remember that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.  What is the work of the Lord?  When we look at John 6:28-29, those people who were following Jesus asked the question to Him – “What must we do to do the work God requires?”.  The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent(v.29).  We must give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, that is, to believe in Jesus whom God sent to us.  And we must proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not believe in Him.

The third question is, “How should we work?

We must do the work of the Lord with God’s love (1 Thess. 1:3).  We must proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ with God’s love to those who do not know Jesus.  We must find satisfaction in doing the work of the Lord (Eccle. 5:18).  We must not be dissatisfied in doing the work of the Lord.  And let us take delight in all our work of the Lord.

Wanting to give myself fully to the work of the Lord,

James Kim