DAY14 Night Crew
Today’s Bible Reading
Colossians 3:22-25
Obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. - Colossians 3:22
Pat’s first job was working on the night shift at a supermarket. After closing time, he and the other staff stocked the shelves. Pat’s boss had told them to always turn the soup cans forward so that the label could be read easily. Also he had gone a little further by saying, “Make sure that they’re facing forward—three cans back.” One night as Pat was arranging the shelves, his co-workers began to get lazy, “Just make sure the front can is turned the right way. Who’s going to know?”
It was a moment of decision for the teenager. Should he do what his boss had asked him to do, or just do what was easy?
We’ve all been in similar situations where we’ve had to make a choice. Paul encouraged his fellow Christians to be obedient even when no one was watching: “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God” (Colossians 3:22, NKJV).
Doing the right thing should not be dependent on whether if anyone else is watching. It’s not always easy or straightforward to live a God-pleasing life. Yet it’s right.
Remember, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them” (James 4:17).
By Cindy Hess Kasper
Questions:
1. What should Christian slaves do, and when should they do it (Colossians 3:22-23)?
2. Why should Christian slaves do that (Colossians 3:22-25)? List two reasons.
3. We are not slaves. How, then, do these verses apply to us? Is there any area of your life where you, like Pat working the night shift in the supermarket, feel tempted not to apply these verses?
Prayer:
Father, please help me to follow Jesus and obey Him each day, even when doing my own thing would be easier. In Jesus’ name, Amen.