WORK FOR THE UNEMPLOYED
by Ernie Klassek
What's the matter with you?" asked my wife with a tone of
bewil derment.
She had every reason to be bewildered. Here we were, a young
couple with two small children on an idyllic beach on Tasmania's
northwest coast. We had good health. My wife was very much a
Proverbs 31 woman. We were a happy family. Our neighbors would
help us anytime.
For migrants who had come to Australia penniless a few years
earlier, we had done well. With a good job, I owned our car and a
weatherboard home on several acres in the bush. Many of my
forefathers strove all their lives for as much but never achieved
it.
I had everything I ever dreamed of, yet somehow I felt as
though I were unemployed and not doing much worthwhile. Why?
The answer came one day as I read Matthew 20:1-16 about some
fellows standing around doing nothing until the day they were
given new jobs. The part about their wages at day's end and their
reactions is funny. Read it.
Jesus begins with: "For the kingdom of heaven is like......"
Reading His other stories with that introduction, we know He
wants us to understand something about a working relationship
between Him and us.
On Earth some two thousand years ago, Jesus called fellows
of all walks to work for Him. They were mature men, successful,
yet He offered them a new job. "Follow Me," He told them, as much
as to say, "Work for Me."
When I first read this, I was puzzled because those men
dropped everything and followed Jesus and went to work for Him.
But I'm no longer puzzled, because the same happened to me. I was
in my thirties - prime of life, with everything going for me. But
when God called, I dropped what I was doing and followed Christ.
It was all a matter of priorities. My ultimate goal in life was
no longer material goods. Now I was working for Him.
My new job, helping spread the good news of God's kingdom,
became the most rewarding imaginable. Working for Jesus made the
highest pay on Earth look petty. And I had great work mates.
They too were called to work for Jesus at different life stages -
some quite young, some in their prime, some elderly. We all did
the same as Christ's first disciples: dropped what we were doing,
rolled up our sleeves, and went to work for Him.
What about people who strive for only success and riches all
their lives? Could they be no more than some poor unemployed in
God's sight? Up to the time of our calling, had we not been like
those idle fellows in Christ's story? And not only we, but also
people called throughout history had been the same - millions of
men and women, girls and boys - until Jesus gave them their true
purpose in life: to do their bit in God's work by working in His
kingdom, praying for many, helping their fellow citizens, sharing
their hope. The list of jobs is endless.
You never know. At a time in life when you too are busy
doing your own thing, God may call you to follow Jesus. You'll
find working for Him is the best job you have ever done. The pay,
the reward, is the most equitable, too. While salvation can't be
earned but freely given, it's the same for everyone, whether you
started early in life, halfway, or in the twilight years.
The kingdom of heaven is for all who were once doing nothing
and now follow Jesus Christ. There is plenty of work for the
unemployed.
......
An Austrian emigrant, Ernie Klassek lived 36 years in Tasmania.
He now lives in Booragoon, a leafy suburb of Perth, Western
Australia.
From the July-August 2009 "The Bible Advocate" - a publication of
the Church of God, Seventh Day, Denver, CO. USA.
To be continued with "Taking the Pink Slip"
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