Work Hard, Play Hard?

This morning when I came in to work, I sat down in my chair and turned on my computer. I started to surf BibleGateway for some additional resources i.e. devotionals, and I usually go straight to one of the links, but today, one other website caught my eye. So I read once through the devotional there, intending this to be just a leisure read.

Its title: Work Hard, Play Hard.

"It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones."
-Psalm 127:2

The author talks about his teen working experience with a guy who seemed well-versed with the world and knows how to live life to its max.

"He explained that most people waste their life by working half-heartedly at menial jobs for eight hours a day and then coming home to nothing more than television and sleep, only to repeat the entire process the next day. Eventually, they wake up and realize they are past the prime of their lives and have not accomplished anything of consequence.

For Scott, this was the epitome of a wasted life. He cautioned me to make every second count and never to waste time on anything that wasn't either hard work or serious leisure."

Now, this sounds perfectly logical to me at first, because I feel that life shouldn't be like that, as reflected in some of my previous posts. Like that, as in, work, home, TV, eat, sleep, work, home, TV, eat, sleep... To me, that is the epitome of a wasted life too. I guess the greatest part that I identify with is the part about TV... a total waste of time and electricity.

So, you can imagine my surprise when this next sentence came up:

"... it was the voice of the enemy. It was no life at all."

This perked my attention as I continued reading.

"Every good lie the enemy tells us is effective because it contains some truth, and the truth in Scott's philosophy is that it really is very important that we make our time on earth count. The lie is that a good life has anything to do with fourteen hour work days or luxurious vacations."

Note the text in bold. I think in our daily lives, this is the kind of lies we need to be on high alert for. Because they contain some truth, it's hard to zone in on the exact lie. And because it sounds correct, we let it sink into our heads as logically sound teaching. That's where it'll manifest itself into other areas of our lives!!!

"Living a good life is about service to and relationships with God, our family and our community."

Now, THAT is the meaning of a good life: service and relationships.

And this further strengthens my belief in looking for and waiting for a job you're passionate about, and that it shouldn't ever be one in the financial sector... no, I'm stereotyping. It shouldn't ever be one where I need to OT alot and requires me to mull over it during my off-work hours:

"How many times do our spouses or children come to us, asking for a little of our time and we send them away because we have important work to do? We tell them that it was not in our plans for today and resent any attempt to alter our agenda. We tell our spouses that we are working hard in order to provide a better life or that we are taking on one more contract to pay for that next getaway. Sure, expensive vacations are nice, but are they really more essential than the occasional dinner with your wife? More valuable than a night out with friends? More precious than holding your new born baby while she sleeps?"

No, they aren't. Like what my dad told me (and I believe I've posted this before), the end of life should be that we've enjoyed it the way GOD has it for us.

That's why, it is also important that we don't do the following:

"When we are consumed by that lifestyle, He (Jesus) too becomes just one more interruption and one more obstacle in our way to getting more work accomplished. So many times I told Jesus, "I can't pray right now, I'm studying for my Theology final. I can't read your Word right now, I'm doing some paperwork for the ministry." I never once allowed Jesus to tell me what was important to Him.

In the ultimate act of selfishness and pride, not only do we fail to spend enough time with Him, but we tell Him that our work and leisure are too important to entrust to Him. We are going to control our agenda since we think we can do a better job, all in the hope of living a full and meaningful life."

The author sums up this very important reminder (at least to me) as follows:

"I understand the compulsion that drives us to make every second count, but we need to surrender and trust that to God, for He is much more capable of giving meaning to our lives than we ever could ever be. It's extremely important to work hard when it is appropriate to do so, but we must also remain balanced and flexible. We need keep our priorities straight."

Indeed, we do. I'm still arranging my priorities.

What about you?

I hope my devotional today has touched you as much as it has touched me...