Give Our All

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

GIVE OUR ALL

Eph 6:5-9

5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

NIV

 We do not have slaves and masters in our country, at least in the sense that Paul is using slaves and masters. It was an acceptable concept in the time of Jesus and was practiced throughout the course of history in many countries but has been abolished in most countries, however, it could still exist. Yet to find a truth we can apply to our lives; we see this as employer and employee. Because we are believers, and we are the image of God to the world, that means we must work as if we are working for the Lord. This means we give one hundred and ten percent to the task we are employed to do, whatever that is. However, we should be doing our assigned tasks as an employee not just to receive compensation, but we should be applying our trade, skill, talents, and profession with a sincere heart, in the same way, we obey Christ. But there is the rub. How much do we obey Christ? We do fail, although not intentionally, as it is our heart's desire to live in a manner that pleases the Lord. However, from these instructions, we see that we cannot simply work in a manner that pleases our boss, as we are to work at that one hundred and ten percent even when the boss is not around, as we are working in a manner that pleases the Lord. We work with our whole heart, doing what we are employed to do. There may be times in certain jobs or professions when change can occur in management and we get a new supervisor. On and purely earthly level, we could get one of those personalities that might be either one of those “A” types always pushing, always wanting more out of us for the same compensation. It really does not matter what kind of boss we work for because we work for the Lord. We might receive our weekly monetary compensation, and as long as we do the minimum required, we should be all right. But we cannot do just the minimum required, we must be all in, and give ourselves completely to our job, talent, and profession. On the other side of the coin, some of us have been or are in the position of being the employer. This would mean that we give ourselves one hundred and ten percent to the task of managing those who are under our authority. We could be the owner of a company or in some place in management, which in either case, we have individuals under our supervision. The Christian boss is one who gives complete respect to all those they supervise. Although we have somewhat of a class system for employers and employees in the world, that does not exist in the kingdom of God. We are all the same in the eyes of God, and Jesus died for us all, whether we are employed or we are the employer, and thus we should live in that manner, doing that which is right and good.  Whatever our position in life in this world, let us live at one hundred and ten percent because we live in the kingdom of God and we give God more than just a percentage of ourselves, we give God all of ourselves, and therefore that is how we work. We give our all.