Dedication to
Work
May 3, 2004
You wouldn’t think something as insignificant as a
gear-shift indicator could spell disaster for a car. But it
could.
I used to own an Olds Cutlass that worked great
except for the gear-shift indicator. When the indicator was on N
the car was really in second gear instead of drive.
One day I loaned the Olds to a friend and forgot
to mention the car’s one flaw. I was mowing the yard when Cindy,
my wife, told me Kip wanted me on the phone. “He sounds upset,”
she said. I ran inside and picked up the phone.
“Bill,” Kip said, breathing hard, “Billows of
black smoke are coming out of the car’s engine. And it’s making
a loud banging noise.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I was just driving it down the
freeway. I wasn’t going any faster than you normally drive.”
Actually, Kip hadn’t done anything wrong. My car just couldn’t
handle traveling at 65 MPH in second gear.
I thought about my Olds one day when I visited a
friend in the hospital. Jim classified his trip to the hospital
as a precaution. In truth, he had suffered a minor heart attack.
For almost 10 years Jim had been racing through
life at 65 MPH while in second gear. He said he had to live at
full speed in order to build up his business.
I wondered how big Jim’s business would have to get before he
would shift gears. He already had one of the most successful
sales forces in the state. He lived in a custom home on a wooded
lot in an affluent suburb. Every year he bought a new luxury
car.
Somehow, the baby blue hospital robe made him seem
more human. The black bags under his eyes contained a sermon
about the vices of workaholism. So did the heart monitor
attached to his chest. I felt sorry for Jim and hoped he would
listen.
“Jim, you have to slow down,” I urged.
“I can’t,” he said. “But I will start working out
and watching what I eat.”
“You’re killing yourself,” I said.
“I know. But it’ll only be for awhile. Then I can
slow down.”
As I left Jim I thought about Psalm 127:2 where
the Psalmist says, “In vain you rise early and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat- for he gives to his beloved, even in
their sleep.”
I realize there are times when we all have to put
in extra hours. But when work deprives us of time with God and
our families and strips away our health—we need to slow down.
Doing so demands a dose of faith, a belief that God will
multiply the results of our efforts when, in obedience to him,
we work fewer hours. Remember, God worked six days and then
rested on the Seventh. He commanded the Israelites to follow his
example and promised to reward their obedience. The same God
will reward our obedience when it flows from faith.
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