Colossians 3:22 Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: 23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.
In everything that we do we have to have the mindset to do it and do it heartily as to the Lord. Make no mistake God is watching and evaluating not only what we do but how we do it. Many people miss the point of this whole passage because of its politically incorrect usage of the terms servant and master, but in the body of Christ we are all servants to our Master who is God Almighty. At the time of the writing of this passage the servant-master relationship was a reality even though human slavery is not condoned by God. The Apostle Paul was simply addressing the relationship as it existed. This would today be the employee-employer relationship. The message is as clear today as it was then: Do your job not trying to please your boss when they are looking, but do it from your heart to please your eternal Master who is always watching and He will reward you. Notice that our reward comes from God based on what we do or don’t do without discrimination. God rewards and punishes all of us for our part in the relationship.
There are three things that we should keep in mind:
1. God desires that we obey those in authority over us in reverence to Him (vs.22) - What many people miss is that God says that we should respect Him enough that we respect those who are placed in authority over us. Notice it is not contingent on how they act but how much we respect God.
2. Whatever we do we must do it from our heart as to the Lord (vs.22-23) -God tells us that we are not to do what we do to please other human beings but to please Him. Our good is not be done when the boss is looking or to be seen by those in authority, but to please God only. We please God by doing what is right in God’s sight and doing it from a sincere heart, regardless of what others are doing or not doing.
3. Our reward comes from God not human beings (vs.24-25) -The interesting thing is that many people think that their reward comes from their boss but it comes from God who really knows what we have or have not done. That is why this passage ends with a warning that God does not discriminate and those that do wrong will receive their reward also. Never fall into the trap of evil that your reward comes from a human being and there is no penalty for wrong doing because they did not see all of your behavior. Live your life with the understanding that your Heavenly Master is the only one who ultimately can and will reward you.
Challenge:
Always heartily work as unto the Lord and out of your reverence for God do your work with excellence. Look for your reward from the hand of God not from the hand of humans.
In everything that we do we have to have the mindset to do it and do it heartily as to the Lord. Make no mistake God is watching and evaluating not only what we do but how we do it. Many people miss the point of this whole passage because of its politically incorrect usage of the terms servant and master, but in the body of Christ we are all servants to our Master who is God Almighty. At the time of the writing of this passage the servant-master relationship was a reality even though human slavery is not condoned by God. The Apostle Paul was simply addressing the relationship as it existed. This would today be the employee-employer relationship. The message is as clear today as it was then: Do your job not trying to please your boss when they are looking, but do it from your heart to please your eternal Master who is always watching and He will reward you. Notice that our reward comes from God based on what we do or don’t do without discrimination. God rewards and punishes all of us for our part in the relationship.