But if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Philippians 1:22
So what do you think? Is Lew Wayburn’s latest invention an instrument for fruitful labor?
To answer that question we’ll need to define “fruitful labor.”Fruitful labor means you have beneficial results to show for the work you’ve invested. (The opposite, of course, is spinning your wheels and getting nowhere—working hard without much return for your energy.)
So the question is whether Lew’s latest creation helps you mow more grass with less energy. If it does, then bingo! He’s helped us increase our fruitful labor!
Like the hard-working farmer, the Apostle Paul expected his work to be fruitful. He wasn’t doing it for his health. He wasn’t doing it just to stay busy or because he didn’t have anything better to do. He was laboring with a very specific goal in mind: fruit.
So here’s the bottom line. Are you and I engaged in fruitful labor? Arewe exerting energy with fruit in mind? Are we laboring to achieve a beneficial result?
Life has a way of consuming our days and weeks and years. Before we know it, we’re looking back over extended periods of our lives and wondering, Where’s the fruit? What have I generated that has lasting Kingdom value?
To avoid this quandary, let’s purposeeach day to engage in fruitful labor. Let’s evaluate everything by whether it produces lasting Kingdom value.
This applies in every aspect of our lives, big and small. I can choose fruitful labor by how I respond to the clerk at the checkout counter, how I reply to my demanding boss, how I serve someone, how I show mercy and grace to those around me… You get the idea. Opportunities for fruitful labor are all around us. Let’s seize them!
Why not join me in this resolution: “If I am going to be alive today in my body, I am going to make sure it means fruitful labor.”
Blessings,
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