Whistle, No, Rather, Pray While You Work
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Colossians 3:17
Whatsoever–that word covers a lot of ground! Whether you are climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro or swimming the English Channel (two things I don’t plan to do) or washing dirty dishes or taking out the trash (two things of which I have done plenty of times), do everything for the glory of God. There are plenty of dull, ho-hum, boring tasks that must be done everyday that we do not take any pleasure or satisfaction in because we place very little value on these necessary tasks. We Americans are something. We have all these modern conveniences to help us in our chores, and we still complain about having to unload the dishwasher! Or take the clothes out of the dryer and fold them. If we ever have to go back to the days when we have to grow our own food, slop the hogs, beat our clothes on a rock in the creek, or use the fans from the funeral home to keep cool, most of us wouldn’t survive!
No matter what we have scheduled for the day, we need to view our chores, errands, and tasks in a different light. The Apostle Paul said to do everything in Jesus’ name. Everything that you and I do, we should do as if we were personally doing it for Jesus. If we follow Christ, then we are His servants. A servant serves his Master. We shouldn’t let the drudgery of necessary tasks and errands get us down. We need to tackle them with a smile. I am very grateful that God has allowed me the strength and energy to do all that I do on a daily basis. When we are burdened down with some monotonous chores, we need to consider the folks who are disabled and cannot do very many physical activities. They would probably be happy to take out the trash, walk the dog, or wash the car. It is indeed a blessing to be able to get out of bed each morning. I am happy that I have things to do, even if some of them are not all that much fun. I will take “uneventful routine” any day over unexpected problems.
One way to overcome the dread of doing boring tasks is to make a game out of it. When I worked full time, my commute one way consisted of 50 traffic lights, and at least one third of them were usually red. A great way to spend the time at a red light is to pray a brief prayer. Each traffic light could represent someone you know, and when that light is red, you could pray for that person. People need and desire for others to pray for them. I have never had anyone to reject my offer to pray for him or her. Sometimes folks ask us to pray for them, and we forget. Red lights could be a good reminder.
There are other ways to use chore time in promoting God’s kingdom, to brighten our outlook, and to give God glory. We should always try to do our best because we represent the King of kings and Lord of lords. After all, everything that Jesus did and does, He does for us. Shouldn’t we reciprocate?