Are You a Slacker?

Once several of us in a singing group were loading speakers and other equipment into a trailer. I teased one of the guys for being a slacker.

“Slacker? Don’t call me that—that’s my nickname at work!”

He was serious.  I was embarrassed for him, to be honest. What an awful reputation to have on the job!

Fill in the Blank: GOD HAS CALLED ME TO ___________________________.

Has God called you to something? Not everyone can say yes to this question. As a child, most of us are called to obey our parents and teachers and generally try to stay out of trouble.  Life for kids can be something like speeding down a mountain in a bobsled—you go as fast as possible, trying not to tumble over the side of the bobsled run.

But as you grow up, life slows down. You exchange the bobsled for a dog sled. Now that you are an adult, you can deliver freight and accomplish things.  Life brings divine responsibilities. Marriage is a calling. Parenting is a calling. And God calls people to specific careers, both in the ministry and out of the ministry. God might call you to teach, preach, or to practice medicine. And these are sacred callings—whether you are certain you heard the voice of God or not. 

Let me repeat that: if you are a spouse, parent, teacher, doctor, and any of a hundred other things, you bear a set of duties so critical they can only be described as SACRED.  To put it another way, maybe you never wanted to be a doctor, and only went to medical school to please your parents. But no matter how you got there, if today you find yourself responsible for the health of patients, then you bear a sacred duty. As long as you continue in the field, you must execute that duty to the best of your abilities.

And what is ‘the best of your abilities’? Are you a hard worker or slacker? What would your coworkers say about you? Do you pursue excellence in all things? 

Some of us give everything a half effort. It is a bad habit. We clean house, but only the things we like to clean. We diet, but every day is a “cheat day.” We do our job, but never thoroughly. Some employees think completing 8 tasks out of 10 is good enough (80% is a B, right?).  But when God gives you an assignment, you MUST give it your all.

“The one who does the work of the Lord with slackness is cursed” Jeremiah 48:10.   

(Cursed?  Sounds like God expects you to roll up your sleeves and give it some elbow grease.  Work hard!) Consider other translations: 

“Cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh negligently.”

“Cursed is he who is doing the work of Jehovah slothfully.”

“The one who does the Lord’s work without care is cursed.”

“A curse on anyone who is lax or lazy in doing the Lord’s work.” 

God expects you to complete the task He gave you!

When God blesses you with the gift of a calling—a challenge He chose for you personally—DO YOUR BEST!

ΑΩ