Better Than a Gold Watch

 "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:58

At my age, folks I know are retiring; hanging their hat, going out to pasture. After years of early rising, gulping coffee, breakfast on the run and giving their all, they've had enough. But it's a mixed bag of emotions, too. I've noticed they feel a tad forlorn as they wonder, "Do they miss me at work?" It's a rare employee who, after they've left, cannot be replaced by another since the need must be filled. Were their decades of dedication meaningless?

The wisdom of Solomon found in Ecclesiastes 2: 18-22 says, "I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun...What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?"

Indeed! What do they get? Used to be they'd get a gold watch, but not so much anymore.

In the verse above, Paul wraps up what's known as the Resurrection Chapter. Since death has been swallowed up in the victory of the resurrection of Christ, we have been given the wondrous task of shouting the Good News from the mountaintops! Now here's a job that can be performed at any age with little training, it has an excellent benefits package and is governed by the most loving, powerful and awesome Boss. He's the true equal opportunity employer! The toil done for Him is never in vain; when souls are won for Christ, it is never in vain. It's eternal.

"I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away from it." Ecclesiastes 3:14