Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
There are some who would look for any excuse to do as little as possible in any given responsibility, leaving things to people who care more than they do about the world around them. Irresponsibility is nothing but a toxic mix of laziness and carelessness. Instead of caring about their environment, these people pollute it. Yes, there are victims indeed, but these are not victims. They are users. God help the nation that has to bear an overload of these free-loaders. Now, having said all of that, it is just as needful to say something about the other side of the coin. Perhaps a greater danger are a people who are so in control of their lives, and so in control of their environment, that they have no need of God. In fact, they have become as gods, creating a world of their own liking, needing nothing but more like themselves. To these, Solomon warns, "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain." If there is anything our western world has proved these days it is, no matter how smartly we think we have managed our economy and our environment, without God's hand, it is a house built on sand. If ever there was a time for the Christian world to stand apart from the world's system of security, it's now. Our voice should be a clarion call to spiritual values that contradict the ways of the world, choosing, by our lifestyles, to live in the calmness and quietness of a God-centered life, where we can truly say, "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want..." Friend, there is no glory in being a work-aholic. Work hard, but don't sell your soul to it. "It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep." How have we let ourselves get sucked into the world's way of thinking; of frantic consumerism? No matter how successful and affirming it looks, there's something terribly wrong with it. My soul longs for this different way; in this dry and thirsty land. Will you join me? Maybe we can start a revolution of non-work-aholics. Now there's a novel idea!
There are some who would look for any excuse to do as little as possible in any given responsibility, leaving things to people who care more than they do about the world around them. Irresponsibility is nothing but a toxic mix of laziness and carelessness. Instead of caring about their environment, these people pollute it. Yes, there are victims indeed, but these are not victims. They are users. God help the nation that has to bear an overload of these free-loaders. Now, having said all of that, it is just as needful to say something about the other side of the coin. Perhaps a greater danger are a people who are so in control of their lives, and so in control of their environment, that they have no need of God. In fact, they have become as gods, creating a world of their own liking, needing nothing but more like themselves. To these, Solomon warns, "Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain." If there is anything our western world has proved these days it is, no matter how smartly we think we have managed our economy and our environment, without God's hand, it is a house built on sand. If ever there was a time for the Christian world to stand apart from the world's system of security, it's now. Our voice should be a clarion call to spiritual values that contradict the ways of the world, choosing, by our lifestyles, to live in the calmness and quietness of a God-centered life, where we can truly say, "The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want..." Friend, there is no glory in being a work-aholic. Work hard, but don't sell your soul to it. "It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep." How have we let ourselves get sucked into the world's way of thinking; of frantic consumerism? No matter how successful and affirming it looks, there's something terribly wrong with it. My soul longs for this different way; in this dry and thirsty land. Will you join me? Maybe we can start a revolution of non-work-aholics. Now there's a novel idea!
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