"Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do"

     
In society, today the value of a hard day's work just doesn't seem to carry the same measure of merit that it did to previous generations. The creation of the computer and the advent of fully automated systems was designed to make life easier on mankind and allow us to experience more time to do things with our minds instead of our backs. In exchange, this new-found time would then allow men and women to use their minds to create new technology, medical advances, and even provide us with more time to spend with family and friends. Not so sure that worked out the way those geniuses that modernized the computer envisioned it! I'm just saying, in today's society we have the technology to find out information in the blink of an eye, we have robots that lift tremendous amounts of weight that before would have taken a number of men an extensive amount of time to accomplish the same goal. We have more time to devote to thinking, creating, and solving world problems, yet if you look around, you will find a population of people that are actually being less productive and more self-absorbed. The mindset of having more time to be more productive is definitely one that we should embrace, I'm just not so sure that we are taking advantage of our best and most productive asset, YOU!
      In Matthew West's song "Do Something" the singer starts out the song sharing his disgust and dismay with all the hurt and trouble that he sees all around him in the news and in his own life. He gets so upset that he shakes his fist at Heaven and shouts out "God, why don't You do something?". In response to this question God simply replies, " I did, I created YOU!" We are the answer to the issues of this world. We are to be God's hands and feet where we live, and I just don't believe we can as effectively accomplish this responsibility by going about our lives in the manner where we currently reside. "A day's hard work never killed anyone" is what I've always heard, and I am more inclined to agree with that statement each day that I live and breathe!
      The title of today's FTM is "Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do" which comes from a verse in the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon the author of this book was known as the wisest man on earth in his time and there are so many of his proverbs and sayings that we use today without even knowing their origin. In Ecclesiastes 9:10 Solomon moves us to action with this statement "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning, nor knowledge, nor wisdom. In other words, if you see something that needs to be done, what are you waiting for, because when you die it will definitely be too late to do anything about it then! Problem solving skills, yes, we need them for sure, but once we have a solution in mind, we need people to go out and execute the plan! We need YOU to go out and do something! Too many people looking around saying, "Why doesn't somebody do something to help?" Guess what you've got the question right, you just need to be asking it to yourself!
     Paul was a man of God and a man of action. His life after his conversion on the Damascus road created in him a call to relentlessly serve God and to spread the message of salvation and eternal life until the day he died. And that is exactly what he did. Two of my favorite verses that Paul penned are found back to back in the book of Colossians chapter 3. In verse 17 Paul encourages us the reader that "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through Him". So, here Paul tells us that whatever we are doing give thanks to God for the opportunity. That's coming from a guy that was imprisoned and beaten for the work he was doing. From a guy that was hunted down and almost stoned to death for his belief, and a man that gave thanks for the opportunity to serve God in all of those situations. Wherever his hands were found he went to work! The second verse is found in verse 23 where Paul speaking to slaves of the day that "Whatever you are working at, do it with all your might, and do it as you were doing it for the Lord and not for man." What this says to me is that it doesn't matter what your circumstances are and it doesn't matter how menial a task it might appear to be, go at it with all you have and give it your best!
     I believe we can definitely take some of Paul's advice and apply it to our own level of engagement. What are we doing with our time? What kind of effort do we put into getting the job done? Are we looking for more ways to get involved or are we numb to the opportunities that are staring us in the face? Do we spend the "time" that was created by computers and technology doing meaningful and intentional projects that will help our fellow man, or do we sit idly allowing the very technology that was created so we would have more time, to take up all of our spare time? We don't need to ask "Why doesn't somebody do something?" We need to be asking "What can I do? and then get started doing it!
Coach Carter