In The World But Not Of The WorldSample

Salary vs Inheritance

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. - Col 3:23, 24

Do you believe that God is your provider? I know you just answered yes. So why work?

If we really believe that God is our provider, salary cannot be our motive for work. But if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that it is. As Christians, we may pretend that we don’t work for salary. We say glibly that we work for God’s glory. But do we really?

Paul wrote this verse as instruction and encouragement to slaves. In his time, slaves did not have fat pay checks, stock options or performance bonuses. Yet he encouraged them to work with all their heart – not in expectation of a fair salary and good increments, but in expectation of the inheritance that they are to receive in Christ.

Paul did not ask them to work in order to earn the inheritance; he asked them to work in the surety of the inheritance they will receive. Where did that assurance come from? It comes from our Lord Jesus Christ Who left His Father’s home and came in search of us. We are the prodigal sons who have wasted away our inheritance. Christ died so that we may regain our inheritance.

Honestly, it is not easy to forget the salary we will get at the end of the month, and focus instead on the inheritance we will receive at the end of this life. So how can we make this deep and difficult change or transition in our mindset?

By fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ – He took on our wages of sin− death. In exchange, He gave us His inheritance – eternal life.

Father God, help me to work in the hope of the inheritance You have freely given to me; and not for the salary I have to earn by my performance. Amen