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Brothers and Sisters from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

I was raised to work hard and take pride in my work. I often turn it into a game as if I were doing it directly for the Lord. If I am making dinner for one of the Lord's people, I prepare it as if it were for the King Himself. If I am repairing a toilet at the church, it's the throne of the King.

The way you treat the Lord's people is not such a little thing to Him. For as you do unto them, it's like you are doing it directly to Him. It will be a hot topic on judgment day:

 (Matthew 25:40 NKJV)  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

This is what the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians about when they were having communion. Some of them were full and drunk, while others went hungry. There were strife and divisions among them, and in their case, it was causing weakness, sickness, and death:

(1 Corinthians 11:29–30 NKJV)  For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

To discern the Lord's body means to understand who it is you are dealing with. The body of Christ is made up of all the believers on Earth (1 Corinthians 12:12). An example of not rightly discerning the Lord's body would be to have strife, unforgiveness, racism, or hard feelings against other members of the body of Christ. In short, that can make you sick.

The golden rule of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is not just a commandment, but great advice for your future and health. Be good to the Lord's people. It's a great investment. 

Yet, even good work for the Lord can become exhausting if we don't balance it. I have pushed myself into burnout more than once by making sandwiches no one ordered. Trying to do good things that the Lord hadn't given me to do. A good rule of thumb is from Andy Stanley, "Don't sacrifice what's unique to you for something someone else can do." 

The Lord has a gentle way of nudging us back on course when we drift. Though sometimes, it's not so gentle, for a swift kick in the pants works better for some than others. Jesus touched the lepers and healed them, but struck the Apostle Paul blind on the road to Damascus. He deals with each of us as individuals. 

We need to balance work and rest, as too much work will make you grumpy, but too much fun will lead to ruin. Two sisters in the book of Luke are prime examples of this. They lived in a quiet little hamlet called Bethany, and Jesus occasionally stopped by their house.

(Luke 10:38–40 NKJV)  Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving..."

Martha was busy working hard with "much serving." She was doing a good thing, which was fine, but she was also glaring at her sister Mary who wasn't helping. Martha was working while Mary was resting in the presence of the Lord. Jesus was in between them. Though both were doing good things, when Martha finally snapped and told Jesus to make Mary help her, He refused:

(Luke 10:40–42 NKJV)  ...and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

Martha was working, but not gracefully. She no longer enjoyed what she was doing. It was becoming a burden. The Lord has said, It's 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit' (Zechariah 4:6). And we know that Jesus never had a shortage of food. He could feed thousands from a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, so there was no emergency in the kitchen that day. Martha needed to step back and take a little break, maybe rest at the Master's feet and listen for a bit to recover her peace and joy.   

Have you ever felt you were serving alone? "Lord, don't You care?" I always feel that creeping in when I start to get overwhelmed. When you start telling the Lord to correct one of His servants, it's probably you that's gonna be corrected. We can so often see the splinter in our brother's eye but miss the treated 6x6 fence post sticking out of ours.  

Jesus told a parable about two brothers and a father who lived together on a farm. The younger brother asked the father for his inheritance in advance while his father was still living. When he received it, he took everything he owned, traveled to a far country, and blew it on parties and prostitutes until he was broke. Too much fun can lead to ruin.

When the younger son began to starve, came to his senses, and returned home, the father in the story welcomed him and threw a banquet to celebrate. Yet, when the older brother learned of it, he was furious. 

(Luke 15:25–28 NASB)  "Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. "And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. "And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.' "But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.

(Luke 15:29–30 NASB)  "But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

That older brother has been working too hard and not spending enough time with the Father. He has drifted and feels slighted, even cheated. He wants the father to correct that young brother or even put him back out on the street, but the father will not do that. Too much work makes one grumpy. 

The father is in between the extremes. We need to balance our work with spending time with Him. And we need to treat each other with the love and respect we would like ourselves.

There is only one banquet, and the whole family of God is invited, but not everyone will attend because so and so will be there. It's best to put that attitude aside and be thankful that you even have a place at His table. 

(Luke 18:9–12 NASB)  And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'

(Luke 18:13–14 NASB)  "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

You can pray this with me if you like: 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I love and thank You today for Your grace and mercy. Please help me balance my life and treat others as I would like to be treated. Make Your desires become mine. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!