The holiday is Labor Day!
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States. It blesses workers with what is called a “long weekend” or a “three day weekend” and is the unofficial end of summer (no jokes about Lake Havasu today). It’s a great time for a little rest for the worker, for family and friends to come together, and definitely for a little barbeque action! Nothing like a day off!
Labor is a part of our lifetime experience. It’s that “9 to 5” thing where we pile out of bed, head for work, work hard and do a good job, and try to keep the mortgage paid and food on the table. In the big picture we look forward to years of retirement where we don’t get up and go to work (no “official” labor) and on the short term we look forward to the normal weekend, vacation time, and those glorious “3 Day Weekends.”
In the Old Testament there were feasts galore, as well as the Sabbath, which gave the workers (and even the animals) a chance for a much needed rest. In the New Testament, we are not under the Law, and we are not under the Sabbath constrictions, but we surely still need some rest, and God knows that perfectly well. After all, the Sabbath was made for man – not the other way around, and it was God who made it! (Mark 2:27)
But life is not exactly the same for Christians who labour for the LORD. We spend a lot of time in Church, worshipping, fellowshipping, and serving. That accounts for one of those days on any weekend, and there is no discharge from this battle that we fight against spiritual wickedness in high places. We enlisted, we were guaranteed the best and longest retirement package imaginable, and the fact is that God’s retirement plan even surpasses our most imaginative dreams, all certified in the wonderful Word of God! It really is our “labor of love.”
In Revelation 2:2 God assures us that He knows our labour, in Hebrews 6:10 He tells us that He will not forget our labour of love which we have shewed toward his name, and in 1 Timothy 4:10 He affirms the reason we labour “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” And First Corinthians 15:58 gives perhaps the ultimate Scriptural encouragement for us to carry on with a most positive attitude and outlook, saying “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” And we understand that “…. every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” (1 Cor 3:8)
It’s Labor Day, and not just for the man of the world, but also for every Christian everywhere. I wonder if Nehemiah had the “Labor Day Concept” in mind when he said to the hard working Israelites: “…. Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10).
We’ll see you in church on Sunday morning, and don’t forget our church barbeque held out back on Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. where we have plenty of room for proper and legal social distancing!
Happy Labor Day!
Love & prayers to you all,
Pastor