“The Sleep of a Laboring Man”...the Wayfarer 6/2/14

“The Sleep of a Laboring Man”
 6/2/14

“The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little, or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.”

(Ecclesiastes 5:12)

Back we go once again to one of my favorite books of the Bible. As I recently told a friend, I find this book is constantly in sync with my life, and with what is happening in the world around me, as well as being continued guidance for an often confusing and, at times frustrating journey through that life.

Whether individual or nation, rest only comes after labor. That rest is, itself, but one of the rewards gained for that labor.  Others include the satisfaction of seeing that labor bring dreams to fruition, whether it be as simple as planting and raising a garden, or as grandiose as setting a nation on a path that is truly beneficial to its entire people instead of the elite alone.

Labor builds families, builds infrastructure, and builds nations and relationships between nations. Labor is the glue that has held a race of God’s creatures together to improve the lot of that creature immeasurably.

There is no substitute for that labor that will suffice to gain the end product of true reward, and the rest that comes with it.

It has been my experience that many actually work harder at avoiding labor than they would had they simply succumbed to the recognition of the need to put fort the effort to begin with.

Jails are filled with those who looked for alternatives, easy ways out, ways to avoid that required labor.

That requirement is nothing new, but in fact quite old, going all the way back to Adam and his fall from grace that instituted the need for that labor to begin with.

“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

(Genesis 3:17-19)

The requirement for labor has been forgotten by far too many, as has the labor of their predecessors that allow the lifestyle that is so much more comfortable than ever before to so much of a world, still attempting to avoid that labor.

Anyone who has experienced the back breaking work of sustenance farming using only meager tools used by our grandparents and great grandparents will readily testify to the benefits gained by their labor and ingenuity that replaced the horse drawn plow with tractors and the machinery of relatively recent invention.

Still, though that labor has been made easier, like Adam, too many listen to the advice of those promising no labor at all for greater reward than labor can produce.

Material things have become the focus of generations instead of devotion to work ethic that was passed down from Adam’s time to us.

“Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.

He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this also is vanity.

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, save the beholding of them with their eyes?”

(Ecclesiastes 5:10 & 11)

The more material gain that is found, the less satisfying it becomes, and the more effort to retain it is required because of those seeking that same gain, whether honestly or more usually, by means of deception and theft.

Nations fall because individuals become so self-serving that the need for common enrichment is forgotten in favor of ease and comfort instead of required labor.

Wars are fought to take what is built by others rather than give the required effort that is demanded of both individuals and nations.

Satisfaction is sacrificed along with blood and lives in the effort to ignore what is preordained by God, that labor is to be given for all gain, small and large.

Passages come to mind of reaping what is sewn, tares found within the wheat, and many other parables and examples taught by Christ to warn against the perils of “riches”.

Forgotten by all of mankind, it often seems is that simple single FACT as stated also in this chapter I so often find my heart led to read and re-read as I continue to see the labor to avoid labor all about me, and see no labor or effort given to anything permanent, but only to the temporal and temporary.

“There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.

As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.

And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind?”

(Ecclesiastes 5:13-16)

Labor is required of us, it is what we labor for that becomes important, that determines any legacy, and that determines what is taken with us as we leave this world.

No material possessions will make it through the rot and decay that are a part of God’s predetermined plan. The only portion of what is in existence while here that will continue on is that Soul breathed into us at birth.

The permanence of that soul, and its judgment by God should be more important than the intransigent and temporary rewards sought by those still being led by the one who cheated Adam out of the birthright to truly avoid all labor, simply by convincing him to believe the lie to begin with.

We were placed here with the purpose of honoring and glorifying God, and were given all the riches and rewards that could be asked for by any, with no requirement for labor.

Once that purpose was denied, once our own way became the primary effort, labor became a primary….. THE primary requirement simply to subsist until the soul is freed from the bonds of the dust and dirt that created the body in which it exists.

The purpose intended for Adam is still that intended for all of his descendants, and the original rewards offered him are still available to any willing to seek those rewards by giving the required labor to meet that original purpose.

We are here, both body and soul, intended to have the purpose of serving God.

“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

(Luke 16:13)

As I have stated previously, all serve a master, few serve THE MASTER.

That Master labored continually while here on this earth to teach and provide the means back to that intended reward.

Choice was made available to re take that which is intended, by simple means…REDEMPTION THROUGH REPENTANCE....GRACE THROUGH FAITH!

This too requires labor. It requires recognition of what is worthy of laboring for, and what true riches consist of.

Without that recognition, repentance is incomprehensible because what is being labored for is abhorrent to God, and that aberration and abomination that is labored for continues to maintain place of precedence in the life of those refusing to admit the need for repentance, and the ability of Christ to provide the rest that truly satisfies.

Labor can indeed satisfy; rest is available and is sweet indeed when that labor is for the abundance of the soul instead of the body.

No matter how heavy laden, troubled, concerned, that rest is easily obtained.

“Come unto me ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
(Matthew 10 28-30)

Yes, the sleep of a laboring man is sweet, provided that labor is expended properly.

I urge all to recognize the need for that rest, not of the body, but that of the soul, and to assure that rest through the acceptance of the simple message preached by my Lord:

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

 I urge all to labor diligently to serve the purpose for which we have been created, and to follow the precepts of that purpose as given by Jesus in the single commandment left us.

I sorrow deeply for all who continue to labor for the transient and temporary, never able to find that rest.

I urge and exhort all to find the necessary grace that is available through faith in Christ Jesus, give that required repentance necessary for redemption, find the purpose for the labor intended and fortitude to give that labor required and the endurance to maintain that faith until the promised rest is given.

 I remain that same simple sinner, given and guaranteed that rest at the completion of my continued labor, a sinner saved by the grace of God, through faith in the labor already expended and the sacrifice given by His Son, my Savior, Christ Jesus, endeavoring to endure until that rest is attained. 

That labor must continue for this soldier until that promised day of rest that awaits any and all willing to give that same labor, first having recognized the necessity for the requirement of repentance, and attaining that same faith.




(Ephesians 2:8-10)
⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.
¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.   

Amen and Amen
the Wayfarer