Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. – Psalm 28:3-4
What we do is heard by God as much or more than what we
say. As you may recall, Tomberg talks
about the various forms of prayer, one of which is true work, which he defines
as work done with one hundred percent effort.
Work may be intellectual in pursuit of truth, reflecting the phrase of
the Lord’s Prayer which says, Hallowed by
thy name, or creative, reflecting, Thy
kingdom come, or yet our effort to provide for the supply of material needs
as in, Give us this day our daily bread. God bestows a benediction in keeping with the
nature of this form of prayer.
Just so when the wicked pray by means of their wicked works,
God pays them in their coin of choice.
God does not pay every Friday because He is loving and merciful and
long-suffering, but when He does pay, it is in full. For the
wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no
partiality, as Paul says.
While we’re in Colossians 3, we might as well think about
why full effort makes all our work spiritual.
It is because we are acknowledging the One for whom we are really
working. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing
that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are
serving the Lord Christ. Our full
effort presses us beyond our physical, mental and emotional limitations. Like suffering, our exertion forces us to rely upon
the spiritual component of our being and draws Christ more intimately into our
lives. Work, when done with the right
perspective, is communion and identification with the Lord. We can obey the admonition to pray without
ceasing as we give ourselves wholly to God in whatever it is that we do.
