Proverbs 6:6-11 - “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”
Proverbs 28:19 - "Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty." If I were to leave out two words, the verse would refer to anyone who works a job, and it does. "Those who work...will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty."
Obviously there is a lot to be learned from an ant. I was so fascinated by the ant metaphor that I wrote a poem called “Consider the Ant, You Sluggard.”
CONSIDER THE ANT, YOU SLUGGARD
The lazy man is a sluggard;
He spends a lot of time smirking,
For when everyone else works hard,
He is hardly working.
A sluggard cannot be trusted,
To do what he says he will do.
His excuses are wild, his words are charming,
All the while he’s ignoring you.
The lazy man is very wise,
But only in his own eyes.
He thinks that people are fools,
And that they believe his lies.
The loafer can’t keep a job;
He is often shown the door.
So when a man’s hands are idle,
He and his family live poor.
He doesn’t plow in season,
But checks for a magical crop.
He fears a lion or a murderer;
He makes any excuse to stop.
The shirker arrives to work late,
He is always the first to leave.
And that’s if he has a job at all,
Because work is his pet peeve.
He should consider the ant;
That works though it never gets paid.
No one tells it what to do,
Yet the “groundwork” always gets laid.
Prov. 18:9 - "One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys."
Matthew 25:14-29 - “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” Don’t be lazy. In business a profit must be produced. A worker for God's kingdom must not shirk his work making fishers of men.
Work Tithes
Help the poor and alien (not ones from outer space) any way you can within your profession. In this way you are tithing your time and resources, though not to the exclusion of your monetary tithes. These verses may spark a controversy as to whether to help the illegal aliens. I can only say that there are verses that tell us to obey the authorities. See Romans 13:1 and Titus 3:1.
I Thessalonians 2:9 - “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” Paul and his fellow preachers donated their full time and efforts – not just a portion. They worked jobs in order to do so.
Deuteronomy 24:19 - “When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” The principle here is that employers are to consider the less fortunate when operating a business.
Leviticus 19:10 - “Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God”
Leviticus 23: 22 - "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God."
Solomon Addresses the Subject of Labor
Solomon meditates on the subject of labor in the book of Ecclesiastes, and it is apparent that he is in turmoil. Even though he had everything life had to offer, he seems to be depressed. He struggles to understand the role of labor in life. He is disheartened by the emptiness it brings. In the end he sees that labor does have some value, but that value is not in the material things that money can buy.
This is how he begins: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” (Eccl. 2:10-11)
A few verses later he continues his lament by saying, “So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without HIM, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (Eccl 2:20-25)
Solomon makes a profound statement in the 4th chapter where he says in the 4th verse, “And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor.” Today we call that “keeping up with the Joneses.” People make excuses to explain why they work longer hours than necessary, and the truth is that they want things and they want their kids to have the latest gadgets or toys. They may want others to be impressed or they may want no less than their neighbor or friend or family member or whoever they hold in high regard materialistically. Another way of saying that is “whoever they envy.”
Verse 6 is where he surmises his finding: “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.” We would be wise to come to the same conclusion. The stress that chasing the dollar brings cancels out any happiness that it brings.
Solomon builds on his reflections in Chapter 6, verse 2: “God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.”
God gives possessions to each person, but God does not intend for the possessions to provide fulfillment in a person’s life, for they are not what is most important. Material possessions cannot fill the void that a relationship with God and others should fill. Those possessions eventually begin to rule their lives, for they must be maintained. The person becomes a slave to things. And you can't take them with you when you go.
Some people spend their earnings on their addiction of choice and this too pulls them away from the family. Man cannot serve both money – or the things money can buy -- and God.
This is the conclusion Solomon came to in the book of Ecclesiastes: "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."
My Comments:
There is no scripture to back up the following statements; they are merely my opinions, observations and experiences:
When a person takes a new job, one of the first things that happens is that they are given a Job Description on paper. The employer's expectations should be on that Job Description so there is no confusion as to who does what in the work pool. In addition to the Job Description, the worker should have in writing the amount they will get paid, how long they will be on probation, when they can expect raises, vacation days, holidays, sick days, the rank of superiors, fringe benefits, etc. How insurance works should also at least be discussed, especially if using it often might affect their job. The amount of severance pay should also be stated. When considering severance pay, should vacation days be included in the severance pay (in other words lost) or are they in addition to severance pay.The more that is put down in writing, the less confusion there will be should a question arise. If an entity such as a church or non-profit organization doesn't pay into workmen's compensation, that should be made known during the interview.
The person should be well trained. There are times when the bosses assume the new employee is being adequately trained and they are not.
Superiors should not give the duties of a trainee to a person who has been there longer just to save time. If a person is hired for a certain job, they should be allowed to perform the duties of the position, not by-passed. Learning through experience leads to better production.
When and if a board does the hiring, or if even two superiors do the hiring, if there is a conflict over who to hire, do not hire anyone until everyone is in agreement. Otherwise the one on the hiring committee who didn't get his way will look for fault in the new employee and the new employee won't have a clue why they can't seem to do anything right in that superior's eyes. Also, those who don't agree with who was hired will cause a negative undercurrent. The job candidate should think twice about accepting a job where everyone is not in agreement that he should be hired.
Should a problem arise, discuss the problem with the employee and give that employee a chance to explain their actions. There may be more to the story than what appears.
There are backbiters in almost every workplace. Don't let them ruin the morale of the workplace. Explain to them the consequences of their actions if they do not cease to bring down morale.
If a worker sees dishonesty occurring in the workplace, or if married employees are seen getting too chummy, it is best to discuss the situation with a superior only. There may be a time when it is the superior who is involved.This is a real tricky situation that must be carefully thought out and backed up with facts. Don't gossip with other workers. The worker should keep in mind that he or she could lose his or her position for exposing the situation. Again, things aren't always as they appear. Be tactful, be factual and be merciful.
Encourage other workers. The Bible teaches us to be encouraging. People are hesitant to be encouraging for fear the person will get the big head but more often than not the person is wondering if they are measuring up to expectations. Everyone likes to know they are doing a good job.
--Becky Wall
beckyowall.blogspot.com
key words: #overworked #lazyworker #workplacedisharmony #moralekillers #oppressedworker conflictsatwork
Godintheworkplace #inadequatetraining #hiring #firing #communicationvoid #workplace #office #boss brown-nosing #disrespecttoboss #insubordination #negativeundercurrent #thingsarenotastheyappear #equalaspeoplebutnotinrank
#labor
Links: https://beckyowall.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-terminator-and-terminated.html
https://beckyowall.blogspot.com/2013/04/consider-ant-you-sluggard.html
https://beckyowall.blogspot.com/2013/07/solomon-addresses-subject-of-labor_15.html
