Labor of Love

I'm at the stage in life where most of my friends are in the season of child rearing, and several of them have quite a few young ones to take care of. 

Whether it's just one or a whole bunch of children, these young mommies have their every moment taken up with thankless tasks which seem at times so very tedious. Their lives are punctuated by another diaper to change, another load of laundry to fold, another meal to prepare, another argument to sort through between siblings, another sick child to care for... and the list could go on and on.

We have similar tedium in teaching, although teachers at least get somewhat of a break once their students have gone home. For us, the day looks like another shoelace to tie, another stack of papers to correct, another question to answer (which you've already answered for the class several times), another makeup test to give that student who was absent, another friendship to mend, another recess injury to patch up... only to get up and begin the cycle over again the next day. 

Tedious work is common to mankind, and I'm sure you could give your own list of tedious chores or tasks. So, since these things are part of life, how does God want us to view them? 

I heard in a sermon this past Sunday that in 1 Thessalonians 1:3, the phrase "labour of love" contains a Greek word which actually means tedious work. Just the mention of word tedious brings to mind certain types of work that I do not enjoy doing, but are nonetheless necessary. The Thessalonians would no doubt have thought of specific tasks when they read the letter from Paul, calling it not just tedious work, but tedious work carried out in love --and it was one of the reasons Paul was so thankful for the believers at Thessalonica. 

"We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father" 

(1 Thessalonians 1:3-4)

The response of the Thessalonians to the kind of tedious work Paul observed them doing led him to characterize it as a loving endeavor. 

What a difference it would make to our lives if we saw the tedious tasks as gifts, rather than burdens. It would transform each diaper changed, each stack of papers corrected, each shoelace tied, each meal prepared, each load of laundry folded. It would turn each one from an unavoidable annoyance into a precious opportunity to demonstrate the truest kind of love -the same love that God shows us every day- the kind of love that delights to do even the smallest, most thankless task simply for the reason that we are doing it for the one we love. Not only would we have the opportunity of showing love to others countless times in a day, but with each bit of tedium embraced with joy we would demonstrate our love for God as well.  

So what tedium does God want to transform in your life today?

"For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. "