Labor Day is a national holiday in the United States which is celebrated the first Monday in September. It is a day set aside to pay tribute to the American worker/laborer.
This country was built by hard-working laborers. It took physical strength to clear the land, plant, and harvest crops without modern equipment, and also to build railroads and establish towns across these United States.
We love to sing the song, God Bless America. The stanza, “From the mountains to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam” makes our hearts swell as we consider the varied terrains, climates, and beauties of the fifty states that make up the United States of America! The success of the American laborer down through our history is quite evident in this beautiful, prosperous country.
However, the Bible speaks of another kind of labor in this present day and time that we must consider; that is our spiritual labor in the Kingdom of God! Many of the physical things we, as individuals, work so hard for in this lifetime will eventually become someone else’s to enjoy and will one day fade away completely. On the other hand, our spiritual labor to obtain salvation and to do God’s work is the most beneficial of all our labors. We lay THOSE treasures up in heaven where they are ours alone and will last forever.
Matthew 6:19-21 tells us:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
So, how do we lay up treasures in heaven? First, become a new person by salvation. Once we confess and forsake sin, God will forgive us, wash us from all our past sins, and make us a new and different person then we used to be! We will think differently, act differently, and have different desires.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
From that point on, as we obey God and live for him each day, our labor will be accounted as treasure in heaven! God keeps a record of our labors, our acts, and our deeds that we do while we are living.
1 Corinthians 3:8 - 9 tells us:
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
As God’s children, we are benefactors here on earth and receive the greatest reward when we pass from this life to our eternal home, but we have a lot of spiritual labor to accomplish for God in our short lifetimes. We are to help lost souls get saved and become brand new, reflect his goodness to all those around us and encourage others along the way – it is our labor.
OUR INSTRUCTION:
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
ON THE LAST DAY:
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
The Bible tells us that EVERY work that we do for God is meaningful and will last. They will not be forgotten by Him! So, as we celebrate this Labor Day in 2022, let us consider our spiritual labors that will come up before our God in that last day. We can personally testify that there is much joy in this journey, living and working for God!
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Want to learn more about laboring for God and having treasure in heaven? Join us in our weekly services. We would be glad to have you – see you soon!