God Works (Part Two)

“For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things [healed a man] on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’” (John 5:16, 17)

These two thoughts—that we are to mimic God in His work, and that we ought to work out of gratitude and a sense of “obligation” to God—should be guiding factors in every one of our lives. If held as foundational principles in our lives, they will guide us to the best of lives and to greater success in every area of our lives. In fact, these two thoughts are one way of looking at the big picture of the “meaning of life.”

For example, when we consider that God is an active worker and never passive, never lazy, never procrastinating, never idle, we of a sudden reveal the heinous nature of these sins that we all too often excuse, downplay, and even joke about.

When I say God is never passive, I do not mean that He does not receive—of course He does—and of course we need to learn how to receive well to. But God is not passive in the sense of being “backward” or hesitant or letting others do what is His responsibility.

And when I say God is not idle, I do not mean that God does not “rest,” because we all know that He does, in some sense. (Genesis 2:2, 3) But the sense in which He does is important. Christ “works” a work of creation and redemption and healing on the Sabbath. Even when God rests, He is active, and when He calls His people to rest, He is not calling them to inactivity as much as He is calling them to glory, celebration, worship, joy, and “acts” of goodness and love—giving “rest” to others.

But, as I said, we all too often excuse laziness and procrastination, when in reality these sins represent neglect of the work God has called us to, what we might call “sins of omission,” and these sorts of sins are as serious as other more apparent sins.

Proverbs 18:9 puts it this way: “He who is slothful in his work is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.” Whether you destroy your world by outright and overt destruction or through mere failure to do the work God has called you to, you are still destroying the world. Edmund Burke’s famous quote rings true: “All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” I would suggest, however, that such “good” men are not really good after all. They may be good in many things, but in the very thing that is most needed, they come up short.

“God, again we give thanks that You are never idle, never backward about the things You need to do, never destructive through sloth or neglect. Forgive us, dear God, for we often are. Teach us to be like You, dear God. Make us like You. Make us active and not passive, diligent servants, never slothful or unfaithful. Teach us to rest in our obedience to You and never to rest from our obedience to You. We give thanks for the diligence and perseverance and faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ who ever works to bring us life and joy, and we pray in His name. Amen.”