“Whatever
you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that
from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you
serve the Lord Christ.” — Colossians 3:23-24
“The true way to
serve the Lord in the common acts of life is to perform them as unto
Himself and this can be done with everything which is lawful to do. God
forbid we should maintain, as some do, a broad, unbending distinction
between things secular and religious.
This wicked age
must, indeed, have its holy places and its holy days. What is this but a
confession that most of its buildings are unholy and its days unholy,
too? Of Heaven it is written, ‘I saw no temple there,’ and we get
nearest to the heavenly state when all superstitious notions about
sacred places and sacred substances shall be swept away once and for
all! To a man who lives unto God nothing is secular, everything is
sacred! He puts on his workday garment and it is a vestment to him. He
sits down to his meal and it is a sacrament. He goes forth to his labor
and exercises the office of the priesthood. His breath is incense and
his life a sacrifice. He sleeps on the bosom of God and lives and moves
in the Divine Presence. To draw a hard and fast line and say, ‘This is
sacred and this is secular,’ is, to my mind, diametrically opposed to
the teaching of Christ and the spirit of the Gospel!
Paul has said, ‘I
know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean
of itself.’ Peter saw a sheet let down from Heaven in which were all
manner of beasts and four-footed creatures which he was bid to kill and
eat. And when he refused because they were unclean, he was rebuked by a
Voice from Heaven, saying, ‘What God has cleansed that call not you
common.’ The Lord has cleansed your houses, my Brethren. He has cleansed
your bed chambers, your tables, your shops. He has made the bells upon
your horses holiness to the Lord. He has made the common pots and pans
of your kitchens to be as the bowls before the altar if you know what
you are and live according to your high calling.
You housemaids, you
cooks, you nurses, you plowmen, you housewives, you traders, you
sailors—your labor is holy if you serve the Lord Christ in it—if by
living unto Him as you ought to live. The sacred has absorbed the
secular! The overarching Temple of the Lord covers all your houses and
your fields. My Brothers and Sisters, this ennobles life! The bondsman
is henceforth free—he serves not man, but God. The galley slave tugs the
oar for Jesus! The menial ministers to the Lord. This cheers the
darkest shades, for now we no longer complain of the hardness of our
lot, but rejoice in it because we bear all for Jesus—and the burden
which we carry is His Cross which He, Himself, places on our shoulders!
This ensures us a reward for all we do. . .
Perform your daily
work with a heartiness which nothing else could beget in you. Serve the
Lord with gladness and do all for love of His name. This I thought most
important to bring forward, and though I cannot speak upon it as I
would, yet I do earnestly urge all of you to remember that piety shines
best around the domestic hearth—and that true religion is always best
esteemed by unconverted men when they see it in connection with the
common duties of life.”
– Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
taken from: All for Jesus, Sermon No. 1205, November 29, 1874.
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