7/10 - Ephesians 6

Ephesians 6
I think I might read verse 1 to our baby tonite: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." I know the baby's still in the womb but you can never start too early. I need to establish some things now so baby won't ever get it confused ;-). Meanwhile, I guess I'll focus on verse 4 and try to do my part now so that as they grow I can build them up in the word of God and not provoke them to anger.

Paul explains in this chapter how the employee-employer relationship for a believer should be. Now it's probably been this way for a while, but today's views of authority & management are pretty low. We see it in Dilbert cartoons, shows like The Office or Office Space and of course we experience it day to day. I don't doubt that people have legitimate beef with their managers but I would venture to guess that our relationship with them is, in general, sub-par to God's standard for it. As you read this you may be thinking of your own manager - maybe you're not convinced of their competency, maybe they actually don't have a clue, maybe they micromanage, maybe they have no people skills, maybe you feel you should be in their position...whatever it might be - the question before us is, as we read verses 5-8, can you serve a person like this as you would serve the Lord?

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free."

I don't pretend it's easy, but it is what we're called to do. God is always raising the standard isn't He? Well the cool part about this is that it comes with a promise: that the good you do to your employer/ manager, God will reward because the good you impart on them is as if you're imparting it on the Lord.