Ephesians 6:5-9
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Work hard, but not just to please your masters when they are watching. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free. 9 And in the same way, you Masters must treat your slaves right. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.
For a few days now, the Lord has been leading me to Ephesians 6. First, it was to remind me of His armor (for another post) then, for a deeper understanding, and today to bring it full circle. It’s been a tough week to be honest. I usually go to write these encouragements, which I hope they are, on days when I myself feel encouraged and prepared to conquer ground for the Lord. Today, and really the past few have not “felt” that way. This is an odd time to work through feelings, as they are given to us for a reason, but not meant to rule our lives. So as I’ve “felt” less than encouraged by many things going on that have hit close to home, I can BE encouraged when I remember who I am serving.
Ephesians 6:5-9 addresses slaves and masters and can be applied to workers and bosses today. Though not everyone has a traditional job that they go to right now, we are all working in some way. We may be serving our family, teaching our kids who are now our students, instructing students formally online, serving others on the front lines, giving of ourselves through prayer and encouragement to those around us. Work looks different, but when we are committed to following Jesus, we actually ALL work for the same boss. God Himself.
A few points that stood out to me from each verse:
5: “deep respect” - Yes, it says deep respect in relation to a boss. That means even if we don’t like it, agree with their demands, or appreciate certain aspects of the job, we must demonstrate respect. This is more than SAYING that we respect someone. I will even go as far to say that it means going out of our way to show them respect. This may not come naturally, but I can speak from experience that when God works in our hearts, He does the changing and it’s so worth it!
6: “not just… when they are watching” - Not only are we not to work for human recognition or praise, but we are also not to only do our best when we are being watched. This may seem obvious but when I really stop to think - how would I talk differently, complain less, or plan better if I had someone watching my every move? Guess what - I DO have someone watching and that is my Heavenly Father. He is the one I aim to please so I desire to be more intentional to do that consistently even when I don’t feel like it.
7: “working for the LORD rather than for people” - This is where it all comes together, for me at least. It gives me peace knowing that I have a PERFECT Heavenly Father who I answer to. Who not only is an encouraging, wise, and excellent “boss” but who is my Father and worthy of my devotion. This is not to say human bosses are not great, but to know that as children of God, we can work to please Jesus, it just makes it all worth it. Not for the reward, which we will get, but because of WHO He is and what He has DONE for us! He has given His life for us so we ought to serve Him with all we’ve got, in whatever job or responsibility we have right now, for however long He has us there.
8: “the Lord will reward” - Though we do not work for a reward on earth, it is actually GOOD to desire the reward He has for us in Heaven! I don’t know about you, but I am the kind of person who does well when I have something to look forward to, an incentive if you will. Knowing that when He calls me home, I not only have the reward of being with Him but one for the good I have tried to do here on earth, spears me on to do better each day.
9: “you have the same Master in Heaven” - For those of us who are in leadership, we must remember that we should serve those whom we lead with the same excellence Jesus demonstrated when He served here on Earth. We are no better than anyone “under” us in authority in the eyes of Jesus and remembering that we have the same Father in Heaven is really important.
There is OH SO much uncertainty out there for every person in the world right now. Job losses, sickness, emotional stress, and more. What has helped me to calm down in the moments of panic is to literally STOP the chaos in my mind and remember the PURE and PERFECT God who I serve and give Him praise right in that moment. It may be as simple as “Lord thank you for the sunshine and my cute pup” but switching my focus to Him always changes my perspective. When our perspective is on serving Christ, it changes how we “work” each day - UNTO HIM.
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