Leaving the couch

Ironically, just a few days after posting last, Colin got laid off from his job. A sign of the times and not his work ethic for sure. But it got me thinking a little more about what I wrote. I should not have implied that Colin's great work ethic is the only reason why we have prospered. It is God alone who makes rich or poor and not man. Colin worked hard, but he could just as easily have had nothing to show for it and no job for the last five years if God had not allowed it.

This takes me to motivation. The reason we work hard is not so that we get things or prosper. We try to work hard because God is a hard worker and we want to be like Him. The Commandments teach us to work six days, but our culture teaches us that five is more the norm and only eight hours at a time too. After that and you deserve to sit in front of the tv for 4-5 hours to decompress. Oh, and don't forget about those 2-4 weeks of vacation that we need too. I have soo been guilty of this line of thinking. It really is just one more way that God's ways are not the world's ways, and, many times, not middle class America's ways.

I've been following Amy's posts about "How We Did It" and they are full of good advice. One of her main points is about her work ethic. Her vacations consist of home improvement projects and her leisure time is spent learning or working on things that will benefit their family. This is not to say that we live for making money, but that we are good stewards of what God has given and that whatever we do, we do it for the glory of God. I dare say, that couch potatoes aren't glorifying to God (finger pointing right back at myself here).