Success at Work

29 MARCH

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so He giveth His beloved sleep. Psalm 127: 2

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Matthew 6:25-34

Solomon, the writer of this psalm, identifies two means that people believe contribute in an eminent degree to the amassing of riches. It is not surprising to find that those who become rich in a short time spare no exertion but work night and day in their occupations, allowing themselves only scanty payment from the product of their labor.

Solomon, however, says that neither living on a small salary nor diligence in work will by itself profit us. He does not forbid us to practice temperance in our diet or to rise early to engage in worldly business, but rather stirs us up to prayer and to calling upon God. He also recommends that we express gratitude for divine blessings and bring to naught whatever would obscure the grace of God.

Consequently, we shall rightly enter our worldly vocations when our hope depends exclusively upon God. Our success then will correspond to our wishes. But if a person takes no account of God as he eagerly makes haste, he will bring ruin upon himself by his precipitous course. 

The design of the prophet is not to encourage men to give way to sloth, so that they think about nothing all their long life long and abandon themselves to idleness. Rather, his meaning is that they execute what God has asked them to do. They should begin each day with prayer and call upon God's name, offering Him their labors so that He may bless them.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: No matter how diligent we are, if our work is not blessed by God, it will fail miserably. Sadly, this principle is far from our minds during most workdays when we so easily slip into the mentality that our success depends solely on us. Make a conscious effort today to remember that any success in work is a blessing from God.

365 Days With Calvin 

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke