“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Colossians 3:23 NLT)

Wherever Grandmammy made the bed, she worked hard at raising what was in it.

Bait worms were important to my maternal grandmother who lived in Vance, SC, near the Santee River. She fished for a hobby—but also to make a little money, initially to pay for my mom’s piano lessons. She never used a rod-n-reel. Rather, she cut cane from the woods and fashioned it into poles. A large one for catfish and a small one for bream. Nor did she use fancy lures. She loved fat, juicy night crawlers. And why spend money buying them when she could raise them?

Her favorite spot to raise worms was in the middle of her back yard. The farmhouse was old, and the sink drain line didn’t empty into the septic tank but directly into the yard. She covered the spot where the water held with a rusty piece of tin—no doubt left over when my grandfather tore the barn down. The muddy mixture this created made a perfect bed for baitworms to multiply. When she got ready to head to “the River,” she simply took an old can, went to her created spot, lifted the tin, and scooped up the worms.

My grandmother’s hard work paid off. She didn’t have to purchase worms, and she caught myriads of fish, which she then sold to neighbors. Paul instructed early Christians to work hard at whatever they did, just as my grandmother did.

Work isn’t a curse, as some imagine. God didn’t tell Adam and Eve to work because they sinned. He told them to care for the garden long before their disobedience. The nature and intensity of work changed after their sin. They’d have to fight thorns and weeds. Their work would be toilsome. But work was God’s plan from the beginning.

Some may imagine we’ll sit around on clouds doing nothing in heaven. I picture another garden, larger this time, where we’ll work for God throughout eternity. The work will be pleasant . . . enjoyable. Our work will have purpose. Perhaps we’ll manage large gardens in heaven . . . or on the new earth.

God wants our best from the work He assigns us. Sloppy efforts don’t glorify Him. And they also speak poorly of our association with Him. Our work is “as unto the Lord.” Regardless of whom we work for, God’s our boss.

Whatever God gives you to do, do your best. Remember, you’re really working for Him.

Martin Wiles