Balance in Your Service Col. 3:22-24 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
You need to be balanced in your service to your employer and to the Lord – Col 3:22-24 says, “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh…” – and it also says, “whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” – we are to serve our employers as we are serving the Lord.
We have a duty to obey our employers and yet to serve the Lord – we have Rom 12:1-2 on the one hand, where we present our bodies a living sacrifice to the Lord and we are not conformed to the world – and we have 2 Thes 3:7-15 on the other hand, that says if you don’t work you don’t eat – we are to be a living sacrifice to the Lord and yet we are to work to support ourselves and others – to do these two simultaneously takes balance – you cannot be so spiritual that you are a poor employee and you can’t be so solely dedicated to your work that you aren’t spiritual.
Two perfect examples of men who could maintain this balance are Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. Both served their masters and were better than any other men their masters had. And yet both were so spiritual that they became great witnesses for the Lord by just being where they were, doing what they were supposed to be doing. God was glorified in both cases.
Joseph – in Gen 39:2-3 Joseph’s master saw that the Lord was with him – even though Joseph was a slave he served his master better than any man he had under him – even when Joseph was unjustly in prison the warden knew that God was with him [Gen 39:22-23] because Joseph served him in the same way that he served the Lord – God was glorified in Gen 41:15-16 after Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh’s dream and Joseph was promoted from prison to the second highest office in the land – all the people knew his wisdom was from the Lord [Gen 41:38-40] – and his whole family was preserved as a result of his promotion [Gen 45:5-8].
Daniel – in Daniel 1, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were the best students among the eunuchs and they were 10 times better than all the magicians and the astrologers – that’s because as they served the Lord, they were also the most diligent and disciplined students in the “school” – these men were captives and yet they served the king as loyal subjects – though they didn’t know it, Nebuchadnezzar was the Lord’s servant [Jer 25:9] – by serving him faithfully, they were also serving the Lord – in Daniel 2, Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar learns from this that God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings [Dan 2:47] – Daniel gets promoted [Dan 2:48] – in Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego won’t bow to the king’s image and so they are “fired” – and yet in Dan 3:28-29 Nebuchadnezzar learns more about God’s glory and threatens to turn his citizens’ houses into dunghills if they say anything against God – in Dan 3:30 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego get promoted – in Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a tree [Dan 4:17] whereby he learns that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men – and by Dan 4:34, 37 he is praising, honoring and extoling the Lord – in each chapter, the servant gets promoted and the king gets closer and closer to the Lord.
Conclusion: So, in our service to the Lord, we are to serve our employers [no matter whether they are good or bad] as we serve the Lord Jesus Christ – in so doing, God gets glory and you get rewarded – that’s how you stay balanced in your service.