Our Labour in and for the Lord

UV 809/10,000 Our Labour in and for the Lord “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” I Corinthians 15 v 58 Yesterday,at a luncheon meeting at Atlanta with the 90 year old legendary founder of HI Leadership Institute, John Edmund Haggai gave me his latest book on the 13 success principles from the Bible. On the first page, he wrote this uni-verse as a Biblical exhortation. I realized as I reflect on his life and work that he has lived and continues to live out this verse. He had stood firm as a rock on his convictions, not moved by many crises in his life and his career. Nothing had moved him to give up his zeal for the Lord and His work of reaching the world. He continues to labour hard knowing that his labour is not in vain, hoping to live past the hundred mark. His life’s work had impacted thousands like me from the days of our youth. A couple of days before at a conference on spiritual wisdom at Yale University, an old management professor asked me, “ How can you be so sure of what you believe in?” Briefly I shared with him how the Lord had saved me from two near death experiences and he agreed that I had strong reasons on which my beliefs or convictions were founded. Most people have only opinions based on what they had heard or read but when our beliefs are based on the strong reasons that experience provides us, we tend to stand firm and unmoved by the changing opinions and whims of the world around us. Without the Lord involved in our labour, our life’s work will be in vain. As Scripture says, “ except the Lord build the house, the labourers build in vain.” We need to drive pile foundations into the bedrock of our faith. When we give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, He will reward our diligence with exceeding and abounding success or fulfilment that goes beyond our expectations. It will be clear to others that we could not have done it on our own or with our own skills and strength. Circumstances and experiences as well as opinions of others should not move us from our hope in Christ. Neither should suffering or persecution deter us nor should success or our influence or appreciation go to our head. We should give ourselves unstintingly or without reservation to the work that the Lord has assigned to us. Above all, we need to be steadfast in our covenant relationship with the Lord and this is more vital than “doing things” for the Lord. Prateep V Philip