Are you working for a living with Christ?

(Colossians 3:23-25)

What do you do for a living? Are you a professional? A construction worker, accountant, or labourer? Perhaps you are a factory worker, musician, or a customer service representative? Maybe a salesperson, lawyer, doctor, or something else?

Let me tell you this. You need to change your thinking!

Regardless of what you do for a job or who you THINK you are working for, in truth if you are a Christian…you are working for the Lord.

Working for a LIVING!

Let me stop here and let you think this over.

When I asked the question, “What do you do for a living?” I’m sure the first thing you thought about was your job…or maybe the fact you have no work at present.

But in a job you are working for a paycheck. In you job, whether you work for yourself or someone else, you do it for money.

That’s not really the same thing as working for a living.

When I speak about working for a living, I am talking about working for a LIFE!

And in Christ we work for the Lord in EVERYTHING we do. Being a Christian is not a Sunday morning thing. It’s a whole of life thing!

Everything you do from the moment you wake up in the morning till you go to sleep at night, you should be working for a living…with Christ. You should be working towards the life that He has promised to those who seek Him and the ways of God.

Every action you take, every behaviour, every word and thought should be directed towards pleasing the Lord so that you will receive from Him, the gift of life eternal.

And in every thing you do, you should do it as if Jesus was standing beside you watching you. The truth is, He is standing beside you and He is watching everything you do and say. So be sure to please Him in everything you do because you are working for a living with Him. This is the thrust of this scripture today.

23 Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. (Colossians 3:23-25)

So the question is…are you working for a living with Christ?

Note the words in this scripture, especially verse 23.

We are told to work heartily in whatever task we are doing. We work as if we are serving the Lord and not men. And in truth when we are working we are serving the Lord anyway, if we approach every task with Jesus in mind.

Consider this. How can we work for the Lord and receive the reward of eternal life? The scripture tells us.

34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? 38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40)

So we see that whenever we serve another person and provide their needs, without shirking our responsibility or ignoring their needs, then we are serving the Lord. This is especially true if that person we are serving happens to be a Christian also.

As we serve the people of God, we serve Christ. And because we are serving Him and walking in His love when we do so, we inherit the kingdom with Christ and eternal life.

We are working for a living…with Christ.

But if we continue on with that scripture, we see that those who don’t offer good service do not receive the reward.

41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’ 45 Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ 46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)

The end of those who reject the will and the way of God, those who do NOT walk in love with their fellow man, is destruction. There is no place in the kingdom of God for those who reject the ways and the will of God.

As verse 46 shows succinctly: “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

So if we are working for a living with Christ, then we must learn to walk in love at all times. Not just with those who please us and are good to us, but also the angry, frustrating, and overbearing people we have to deal with.

You are working as though you are serving Christ, and in fact we are working for Him.

When you are working for a living – choose well.

Make no mistake, if you are not working for a living with Christ and working as though serving Him directly, then you are working for death. The reward for those who reject His ways is death and destruction.

The final verse in Colossians 3 tells us that it doesn’t matter who you are either. God shows no partiality.

There is no bias or prejudice with God. It is a simple process. The good go into eternity with Jesus Christ and God, and the bad go to death and eternal destruction.

God and Jesus Christ are the judges of all mankind. And the Father gave all judgement to the Son. If we reject Him, then we are judged unworthy of His kingdom and inheritance.

Don’t make that mistake!

Seek the Lord. Find the truth. What you are taught in the church may be wrong. Seek it from God for yourself. The Bible says, “They shall all be taught by God.” (John 6:45)

God is the only one who can teach you right from wrong and truth from error.

And remember also, it’s not what YOU think may be good or evil, right or wrong. It is what God says is right or wrong and good or evil. Every person will stand before the judgment seat of God. And it is God’s standard that we will be judged by to see if we are worthy to enter the kingdom of God.

That is why it is even more critical to listen to the words of Jesus and be taught by God. He will supply the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him and the Holy Spirit will be the one to open God’s words so that you can discern right from wrong.

So I ask one more time: Are you working for a living with Christ? That is, are you working to serve Christ and walk in love with Him and everyone else so that you receive entry into His kingdom?

If not, or you are unsure, NOW is the time to start!

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