Take This Job and Shovel it!

It snowed last night.

It wasn't much, really...but it was just enough to create yet another assignment that screamed silently through the glistening white layer of winter wonder on the driveway...'Shovel me...NOW!'.

Charlette had to get to her job. David had already left for his...and it wasn't even 6:00 in the morning, yet. If I left that one or so inch layer on the drive, our tires would smash it down into a well packed glaze of ice later in the day...just about the time Charlette would be making her way back up the driveway. From experience we know that if that happens, there is no getting anyone's car in the garage much less walking up to the front door. Talk about a slippery slope!

Got my coat, put on some warm socks, threw on a neon orange knit hat, slipped into my boots and got to shoveling. Even light snow can get heavy as it piles into the shovel and is forced to the side of the drive. You can't avoid pushing and throwing, pushing and throwing. It is a constant motion that is repeated time and time again. I noticed something as I shoveled. I had no choice but to stoop over. I wondered if shovels are made to the height of the 'shoveler' to ease the load on a middle aged back! As I pondered this weighty thought, a Bible verse came to mind...surprised me too...

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of the ox comes an abundant harvest." Proverbs 14:4

In other words, if you want to see a result, you have to be willing to put some work into the project. It may not be easy. It may not be pretty. It may not be fun. No wonder it is called 'work'! I began to think about the assignment of an ox. Really simple. Get hitched up and start pulling the plow or the load. If the ox is not about his assignment, the 'manger' (the place for the storage and the distributing of grain) is empty. It was the oxen that were assigned by King David to pull the most holy Hebrew artifact that symbolized the presence of God in their midst, the Ark of the Covenant. When the ox shows up for his assignment, ready to plow the field or to pull his load, you can look forward to some results that will make the work invested rewarding and then some. Oxen may be thought of as ugly brutes, but you just gotta' have them!

Jesus made an interesting statement when He said, "My Father is always at work to this very day, and I too, am working", (John 5:17). Jesus never missed a work assignment throughout His earthly ministry. As He faced the Cross and His coming execution, He spoke to the Father who sent Him and gave this startling word of applied truth; "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave Me to do", (John 17:4). In just the measured time of 33 years, Jesus could say with utmost sincerity and integrity that He had carried out His mission. It is no wonder that as He breathed His last, His final and lasting redemptive assignment about to be completed, He cried out, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). He showed up on time, and finished the needed 'work' that ransomed the spiritually helpless and eternally lost.

The Bible says that there will come a time that our 'work will be shown for what it is...the fire will test the quality of each man's work," (1 Corinthians 3:13). Jesus said that when He comes again (and that will be soon!) that, "My reward is with Me, and I will give to every man according to what he has done", (Revelation 22:12). The Scripture is not shy about God's expectation of the completion of our life assignments and the attitude in which we offer to our Creator and those He loves, (that is everyone) our finest in effort; ""Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward" (Colossians 3:23-24).

So, in the midst of shoveling in the dark of morning, I realized that...

1. No task in unimportant, no matter how small or significant.

2. What I do must be motivated by the honor God will receive and the need it will meet for another.

3. When I complete my 'assignment', my work produces a result that God takes note of.

4. I can expect the difficult & challenging to translate into personal growth, character building, sweat and soreness.

5. I must be about the 'Father's business' to maximize my life...that does not mean always speaking from a church podium, it may mean changing a diaper, folding clothes, putting gas in my kid's car, smiling at the cashier, assisting my Neighborhood Association, engaging in spiritual conversations, or shoveling the driveway for my bride...

6. Work becomes opportunity. Opportunity to make the quality of His love known. Opportunity to leave His impression on the hearts and lives of others. Opportunity to bring glory to Him by completing our daily assignments with joy and as a personal act of constant worship.

Its OK to be like 'ox like'! As a matter of fact, God prefers that we live with 'ox like' qualities. Jesus said that smart folk work 'while it is still day because the night comes when no man can work'. So today, get to shoveling! Roll up your sleeves. Pull up your chair. Jump on your assignment. Sweat a little. There will come a day (maybe sooner than you would have thought) when you will hear from Him; "Well done! You are a good and faithful servant (worker). Come and enjoy your Master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:21).

On that day, I will forget all about snow and shovels!