Laboring To Save Souls
Updated: Sep 17
Next Monday is Labor Day here in the United States. Formally adopted as a national holiday in 1894, the day celebrates the work of every man, woman, and child who contributes to our great country. In some places, the day will be marked by parades, festivities, and speeches, but most Americans will simply relax and enjoy a day off from work. Adding the weekend which precedes Labor Day, it is a three-day period of time to bring summer to a close and prepare ourselves – body, mind, spirit, and soul – for the remainder of the year.
Two thousand years ago, a man named Jesus from a town called Nazareth was also hard at work. First as a carpenter, then, in just over three years, as a teacher, prophet, miracle worker, and messiah, He was laboring to save souls: your soul, my soul, and every soul which had ever come, and would ever come, into the world. No one before Him or after Him has ever had anything close to the effect that Jesus of Nazareth had on this earth and in eternity.
It is easy (in fact, too easy) to relegate Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to only certain days of the week or only certain times of the year. Many Christians will give Him Sundays (or at least an occasional Sunday), Christmas, Easter, and maybe, just maybe, a season like Lent or Advent. But what about all the other days of the week? And what about all the other days of the year?
Again, it is easy to see the 365 days of the year (366 days in a leap year) as being divided into time which belongs to God and time which belongs to us. Whether we call it secular thinking, humanistic thinking, or simply selfish thinking, this duality requires us to think of our world as separate circles of existence. For each person (according to this model), there is one circle marked “Me,” and it includes everything someone has and everything someone is. Time, talents, treasure – they are all happily kept inside the circle marked “Me.” For believers in a “Higher Power” (according to this model), there is another circle marked “God” (or any of the other names that humans use to label a supernatural construct beyond their physical or intellectual grasp). Included in the “God” circle (according to this model) are, at best, a handful of days each year, a limited amount of time each day, and a small amount of human treasure. These circles overlap, but they do so in only the most cursory of ways.
For a disciple of Jesus Christ, on the other hand, the circle marked “Me” is understood to be a subset (technically, a proper subset) of the circle marked “God.” In other words, everything which exists in “Me” is completely included in, and completely encompassed by, “God.” Thus, everything I am, and everything I have, belongs to God. Time, talents, treasure – it all belongs to God, and I am merely a steward of those gifts. Indeed, God’s grace, which is the means by which we receive salvation, spiritual renewal, and sanctification through Jesus Christ, is itself a gift to us from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). What we do with it is, in turn, our gift to God.
This Labor Day, relax with those you love. Rejuvenate yourself. Renew your body, mind, spirit, and soul. But remember that Labor Day is also a day the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24), and that the greatest labor ever achieved was the Son of God’s conquest of sin and death so you could live forever with Him (John 3:16-17, Romans 6:22-23). Now that’s a Labor Day worth celebrating!
-- Dr. John Morris