March 15

Fifth Friday after Epiphany

Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance. Colossians 3:23, 24.

IT will be seen by consulting the context that this precept, and the corresponding one in the Ephesians, have a primary reference to the duties of slaves. The duties of the slave were bound upon him by the most galling necessity, yet the Apostle intimates that even these may be ennobled and sanctified by importing into them a Christian intention. Let the slave look behind and beyond his earthly master, to the gracious and glorious form of the Lord Jesus, Who stands in the background, requiring service from him. Let him yield that service heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, and it shall be owned, blessed, accepted, rewarded. Now, we cannot but think that there is a deep wisdom in this particular arrangement of the Word of God, by which a precept so universal in its character as that of the consecration of secular duties to the Lord, is connected in the first instance with the business of slaves. No man after this can say, "My duties are so very commonplace, and so very petty, that they cannot have a religious dignity and value; or so bound upon me by necessity that there can be no spontaneity in rendering them." Your duty, whatever it be, is at least as noble intrinsically as that of the bond-servant of antiquity, and therefore, if the duties of those bond-servants admitted of being done heartily, as to the Lord, much more do yours. Before you go forth to your daily task, establish your mind thoroughly in the truth, that all the lawful and necessary pursuits of the world are so many departments of God's great harvest-field, in which He has called Christians to go forth and labour for Him.