Labor Day

Labor Day is a very special day at our house. I met my beloved bride on Labor Day and it has become a special family day as a result. While our children were growing up, they asked us what Labor Day meant, and I told them it was a special day to labor and get special projects done. They didn’t know until they went to college that I was kidding, but we did get a whole lot of special projects done. So, for family celebration and family projects, Labor Day is special at our house.

Labor Day is, of course, a day to honor our workers and give them a day of rest. But, that leads into a problem that our world has today that is unique to our time. It is the problem of idle time. Whether it is retirement, underemployment or the increased availability of free time from regular labor, we simply find too much time to be idle. If we are old enough to have heard ancient adages we know that the devil loves idle hands and idle minds. Certainly, we can be thankful that we are not compelled to work twelve-hour days six days a week like our ancestors, but that blessing has brought with it a curse of idleness.

Paul tells us to be doing something. “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Doing nothing is really doing something, but in a very negative way. Imagine someone saying, “I am doing nothing for God.” Paul says that in doing something, anything, we are to be mindful of God and do it for His glory. We can play with our grandchildren for the glory of God. We can recreate with God in mind by asking ourselves if He would enjoy the content of our recreation. We can visit with our neighbors with God in mind. We can use whatever time God has given us, work time, idle time, family time, to glorify God. Just let it not be said of us, “I am doing nothing for God.”