file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940905.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD                              Monday, September 5, 1994
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READ:  Colossians 3:18-25


                         "KEEP THE WORKDAY HOLY"

                  "Whatever you do, do it heartily, as
                      to the Lord and not to men."

                           Colossians 3:23

If you're into bumper-sticker philosophy, you've probably seen the 
axiom, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."  For a vast portion of the 
workforce, that's the best reason they can muster for going to the job 
each day.

According to one poll, only 43 percent of American office workers are 
satisfied with their jobs.  In Japan, the figure dips to 17 percent.

In the first century, Christian slaves had even less reason to be 
enthusiastic about their work.  But Paul gave them a way to grasp a 
glimpse of glory amid the grind.  He wanted them to "adorn the doctrine 
of God," that is, to show the beauty of their faith in Christ
by how they work (Ti. 2:10).

A significant and often overlooked way that we serve God is in our 
everyday tasks.  Martin Luther understood this when he wrote, "The maid 
who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk 
who prays - not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but 
because God loves clean floors.  The Christian shoemaker does his 
Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making 
good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship."

Today in the USA we honor labor.  As Christians, whatever we do, let's 
remember the workday, to keep it holy.

    - Haddon W. Robinson

                       They who tread the path of labor
                        Follow where Thy feet have trod;
                       They who work without complaining
                            Do they holy will of God.

                                 - van Dyke

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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Do good works for God by doing good work for your
employer.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  2 Chronicles 17-19

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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of Radio Bible
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