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Luck Has A Different Spelling

As a young boy, my grandmother taught me that hard work is essential to accomplishment. However, there are many folks in our world today who are quite willing to leave work for others to do.

One man prayed, “Lord, use us all.” He continued by saying, “But Lord, use me in an advisory capacity.”

It’s easy to think up things for others to do, isn’t it? For example, in our educational establishment, the “motivational experts” with their three points and a quote, blow in and blow out of our schools, pumping up the teachers. But have we ever noticed how they never hang around to do any of the “sweating and working” it takes to put their so-called “perfect plans” into action?

Folks, the world has “many” advisors, but “few” laborers (cf. Matthew 9:35-37).

Do we not know some lazy folks who are jealous of the success of others? So much so, that they have concluded that success is wrapped up in simply “knowing the right people” and in “being in the right place at the right time.” Or, they might say, “He’s gotten all the breaks — he’s got the luck of the Irish.”

However, if we’ll watch the so-called “lucky man” very carefully, we will notice that his luck is spelled w-o-r-k.

Nearly every organization that man has established, is plagued by individuals who simply “get by” off the produce of someone else’s hard work. Sad to say, they usually receive more than their share of the credit, but do not do their share of the work.

Jesus saw the value of work and emphasized that value to His followers (John 9:4; cf. Hebrews 6:9-12). With consecrated energy, He devoted Himself to His Father’s work (cf. Luke 2:41-49; Luke 4:43; John 4:34; John 5:19; John 11:8-9; John 12:35-36; John 17:4).

Brethren and friends, laziness is alien to the Master (John 13:1-17), and should be alien to us as well. We will not want to hear the following condemning words from our Lord to us on judgment day:

“You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown; and gather where I have not scattered seed ….. cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:26,30).