It's Almost "5pm"...Time To Clock Out Soon!
"And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed."—Rom. 13:11
We’ve Been Clocked In!
From the moment you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are automatically "on the clock" for work—His work! Each of us has been given one or more talents as a means for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ while here on planet earth. God has called each and every one of us to do a specific job and to join Him in His work. It's very much like the job that you have in the natural/physical world.
There are those for whom their job is just that, a job. One that is done out of a sense of necessity in order to collect a paycheck. It can, and often does, become a mundane daily grind. Trust me, I know, I’ve been there more than once. It can wear you down. There's a reason why it's called "the daily grind".
But even in the midst of all of this, here is what Paul tells us to do in 1 Corinthians 10:31:
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Some of us might not have what we would describe as our ‘ideal’ job. However, for the time being, that is where God has you. And trust me when I tell you that He knows what is best for you and me!
Before we dive into the spiritual meaning of this article, I think it’s important to visit the whole notion of work in the physical work place we are currently all living in. The Lord spoke often times in parables as a way to demonstrate and draw parallels between the physical and the spiritual. We might be tempted to believe these to be “outdated” methods of teaching, but, I hope that you’ll see that that is far from the truth. The Lord’s principles He outlined centuries ago are just as applicable to us today as ever before. I’d even go as far to say that they (the parables) are more apropos to us today than ever before.
So, let’s get in to it!
The Physical Workplace
Every employer expects those whom he or she hires to be diligent employees and do the work to which they were hired to perform. It’s expected and often times demanded. You are expected to know your craft and perform in such a way that you become an asset to the company that hired you. Every business is looking for growth. They are looking for ways to maximize their profits. They want to have an edge over their competitors. Essentially, they want what is called ‘ROI’ (Return On Investment). So, when we perform our duties or tasks to the best of our potential and abilities, the company/employer will benefit and gain from it. Our productivity becomes a financial benefit.
Basically, this is how it goes. If you are a fantastic employee and are benefiting the company, you WILL get rewarded either via raise, promotion or both. On the converse side, if you fail to live up to the ‘job description’ and cost the company money, if you are sloppy and lazy, always late, you become a hinderance to growth or a liability. Most likely, you’ll get fired. Period.
Unfortunately, we now live in a day and age where people don’t want to work. If COVID-19 lockdowns showed us anything is that people can be easily manipulated by a measly few hundred bucks to stay home and not work. Many people never went back to work. Many folks opted for government assistance rather than to work. America has never recovered from that. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of businesses looking for employees, but, are finding that many don’t want to work at all. It’s not that we have a shortage of jobs out there. We now have a shortage of people that are not wanting and willing to work to earn their keep.
I can’t tell you how many people I meet that tell me the same thing phrased just a little differently. They say “people just don’t want to work anymore.” They go on to explain how so many complain that the work is just too hard. There is no sense of commitment or follow-through. They want to have the position and pay, but, they’re just not willing to work for it. They don’t want to have to put in the years of hard work. They don’t understand what seniority means. They want the cake and they want to eat it too!
In an article from August 20, 2023 titled ‘Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s Ultimatum To Remote Workers’, we read the following:
Amazon employees have been pushing back against the company’s return-to-office policy for months — and it seems CEO Andy Jassy has had enough.
During a pre-recorded internal Q&A session earlier this month, Jassy told employees it was “past the time to disagree and commit” with the policy, which requires corporate employees to be in the office three days a week.
The phrase “disagree and commit” is one of Amazon’s leadership principles, and was used often by the company’s founder and current executive chairman, Jeff Bezos.
“If you can’t disagree and commit, it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon,” Jassy said, adding it wasn’t right for some employees to be in the office three days a week while others refuse to do so.
This is just one example of many to show how the God given responsibility to work has waned from our country. We’ve become a self-entitlement society in which many are under the impression that work is of the past and we should all have some sort of Universal Basic Income “awarded” to each citizen. Many that come out of universities with degrees believe they’ve somehow “earned” the right to be given a high ranking position based on their scholastic accolade, instead of being content with an entry level position in whatever field they’re aiming for. Whatever happened to the days when experience was highly coveted in a prospective employee? I can tell you this, a society not willing to work hard at something is a society that will never appreciate the sense of accomplishment and reward that comes from one’s efforts and hard work. The old adage still proves true today no matter what anyone says: Hard work pays off, and, the proof is in the pudding!
Let’s take a look and see what the Word of God has to say about this though, shall we? This is what Paul says in 1 Timothy 5:8:
“If anyone fails to provide for his own, and especially for those of his own family, he has denied the faith [by disregarding its precepts] and is worse than an unbeliever [who fulfills his obligation in these matters].” (AMP)
That’s a pretty bold and blunt statement! What about Proverbs 19:15?
“Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger.” (NKJV)
I think the ultimate example of hard work is none other than God Almighty Himself! If we go to the beginning of it all, we see that God worked at creating everything in 6 days. Yes, God worked! And guess what Adam did in the garden? I’ll let the Word of God answer that question as well as seen in Genesis 2:15:
“Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.”
God had Adam tend and keep the garden. Adam worked! Work is a good thing. Work is a God thing! It might seem strange to some, but folks have worked all throughout history. Not only was it rare to find people who didn’t want to work and earn a living, it was almost non-existent. But, we seem to be moving far away from that God established principle. And just as we see man’s desire to put in an honest day’s work in the physical realm waning, I believe we see the very same thing happening in the spiritual realm, within the body of Christ, the church.
The Spiritual Workplace
Please allow me to be blunt. We were commanded to join God in His work by none other than Jesus Himself. When Jesus gave the disciples the ‘Great Commission’ it wasn’t a suggestion, proposal or even an idea. We often times think that it was under the best of pretenses when we read about it. We picture the eleven disciples (Judas had already committed suicide by hanging) as eager disciples just waiting for the next “directive” from their master. But, the opposite is quite the fact. See, the disciples were still in unbelief as to Jesus’ resurrection. Mind you the Lord had reminded them various times that He WOULD rise. Oops, must’ve slipped their minds. They were huddled in the room having dinner, when lo and behold, Jesus shows up! “What’s up fellas?” (my rendition). Jesus went on to scold them. This is what the ‘Pulpit Commentary’ says about it:
In His third and final appearance, Jesus comes into the room where the eleven remaining disciples are reclining at dinner, still refusing to believe the reports of those who had seen Jesus alive. For them, Jesus appears to renew their commission. After rebuking them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, Jesus goes directly to the purpose of His appearance. He gives the Great Commission for world evangelization along with the promise of salvation to those who believe and with the power to do miracles.1
Did you catch why Jesus appeared? It was to renew their commission. Jesus had to rebuke them because even after all of the years they had spent with the Savior, knowing they had work to do in evangelizing, they became doubtful and hard-hearted! Mark 16:11c says they did NOT believe Mary Magdalene that Jesus had risen. Drop down two verses to Mark 16:13b and we read “but they did not believe them either.” That is the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They had allowed their fear (which is from the enemy) to settle and paralyze them from doing the work Jesus called and commissioned them to do.
This is nothing new to any of us. The clarion call to work for our Lord is seen in Matthew 9:36-38:
But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
What do laborers do? They work, they toil—they labor. And, in this case, Jesus is making the point that the work in the spiritual is more than abundant; however, the workers, the laborers are few. They know that there’s work to be done. However, they’d rather “sit this one out”. Much like in the physical world where the value of working is waning quickly, so too in the spiritual, the laborer for the work of God is waning as well…quickly!
We seem to have entered an era within the church where the ‘work’ must be followed by praises and exaltation of the worker. A place wherein the “fire” of ego is stoked. Where numbers and presentation trumps the preaching of the inerrant Word of God. Where the lure of fame and popularity are the impetus for entering the ‘fields of the harvest’. It’s a me first era in the church. Where the prevalent mind set is “what can God do for me?”, “How can God bless me today?”…essentially, we’ve boiled church down to five words, ‘what’s in it for me?’.
IT’S ALMOST 5PM. TIME TO CLOCK OUT SOON!
Some of you might be asking, what in the world does this have anything to do with clocking out?
As I stated at the beginning, if you are in Christ, we must remember that we are officially on the clock—His clock! A lifetime of working for Him. But, just as there’s a time to work, there’s also a time to ‘clock out’ of said work in ‘the fields of harvest’. Knowing that we are living on borrowed time and our time to clock out is nearing, the question we should not only be asking but acting on is as follows: what we should be engaging in before ‘5pm’?
Now, in the parable of the talents, which we read in Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus illustrates our God-given responsibility, in regards to our talents, with a parable. The talents or gifts were given to each person in accordance with the owner's judgment. In the same way, God has given each of us talents according to His perfect foresight. We are to use these talents to further His glorious gospel. These are the talents that will be of help to us in the spreading of the gospel as we work for the Lord in this His great harvest! To some the gift of singing, to others the gift of nurturing, to others the gift of evangelism, and to still others the gift of teaching, financial acumen, writing, speaking, preaching, athletic ability, business insight, and so on and so forth.
I can’t sit here and tell you what your ‘talents’ and gifts are, but I know one thing for sure, it’s in each of our best interests NOT to ‘bury’ said talents and gifts. When I spoke at the End Of Days Bible Prophecy Conference, I mentioned how I believe we are in a “holding pattern” right now. What do I mean by that? A holding pattern is when an aircraft is coming into its final destination; however, it is not allowed to land (for specific reasons) until they get the clearance from ATC (Air Traffic Control). That’s exactly where I believe we, as the body of Christ, the Church, are at. Soon, that clearance to “land” will come and our time for work will be over.
I hope and pray that as we wait for the last few minutes before ‘clocking out’, we will not only embrace our ‘work’ for the Lord, now more than ever, but not grow weary in doing good as it says in Galatians 6:9:
“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Have a nice day!
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In a time when many are burdened, weary, and demoralized with all the sorrows of this world, it's important to be reminded that rest is coming. We aren't long for this world, and regardless of how much time we have left - a few seconds or a whole lifetime - all our toil here is just a brief moment compared to the glorious eternity with Jesus that awaits!
I'm sure I will remember this analogy every time I look at the clock and it's 5:00 p.m. Thanks for the meaningful message at this time when our work will soon be over.