by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

Don’t work hard only when your master is watching and then shirk when he isn’t looking; work hard and with gladness all the time, as though working for Christ, doing the will of God with all your hearts. Remember, the Lord will pay you for each good thing you do, whether you are slave or free.

And you slave owners must treat your slaves right, just as I have told them to treat you. Don’t keep threatening them; remember, you yourselves are slaves to Christ; you have the same Master they do, and he has no favorites. Ephesians 6:6-9 TLB

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites. Colossians 3:22-25 NLT

Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven. Colossians 4:1 NLT

Whatever good times or bad times such as Covid-19 may have brought, the principles espoused in these scriptures work. A Christian friend working for the biggest Oil and Gas Company in his country once shared his experience going through an unprovoked storm in his career. In return for meritorious work that provoked reactions from dissatisfied superiors he was re-assigned to ‘joblessness’, a floater with no job description. He understood the principle of ‘whatsoever you do, do it:

1. Heartily;
2. As unto the Lord; and
3. Not unto man’

In his own words, ‘I went to work in my best dresses, wore no long face and determined that even if the adhoc assignments I got was to clean the toilet, I would so clean it that anyone going in would love to lie down on the toilet floor to take a rest. My oppressors were confused and when the Lord would turn my captivity, I was promoted above most of them.’ When we understand this principle and the Psalmist’s admonition in Psalms 75:6-7, and do as the word of God commands, we certainly are in the right place. Selah.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash