The national unemployment rate was at a record high last spring due to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic: 14.7%. The current unemployment rate is now significantly lower (6.7%) because many medical achievements have accelerated our nation in the right direction, and we have learned how to live with this virus. More people are working and earning an income—that is a great thing for America and Americans.
However, having a job doesn’t equal happiness for most Americans. Overall job satisfaction in our country is depressingly low. One study found that over 55% of Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs. Many people feel they have hit a brick wall in their jobs with no chance of climbing the success ladder. Some working folks wish they could change their careers or work in a different field. Job satisfaction is important—you need to find something you like to do. As the old proverbial saying goes, “Work doing something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
As vital as personal job satisfaction is, the Bible says that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should have an entirely different approach towards job satisfaction. The word of God teaches that the question you need to ask is not, “Am I satisfied with my job?” but, “Is Christ satisfied with my job?” Christian—when it comes to your job, what matters most is if your job performance is satisfactory to Jesus Christ. That’s why Paul wrote,
“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:22-24).
God wants you to render straightforward obedience to your employer—so long as they don’t require you to disobey God. If you know Christ, you ought to be the best worker on the job, so much so that you show up the laziness of the other employees! Moreover, God wants you to work sincerely even when the boss isn’t watching. This is because your ultimate motivation for working hard is fear of the Lord and a desire to please Him. Therefore, do a good job, show up on time, go above and beyond, and work hard even when no one is watching because your ultimate Boss is Jesus Christ. He is your Master and He is watching you. He will reward your hard work, even if your employer won’t. Is Jesus Christ satisfied with your job?
Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
A special designation is assigned by God to all who refuse to succumb to the evil influences in the world and triumphantly conquer its temptations: conqueror. Jesus, the ultimate Conqueror, will grace you with heavenly rewards if you stand your ground victoriously against the flesh, the devil, and the world system. In fact, seven distinct rewards are promised, “to the one who conquers,” at the end of the letters to the churches of Asia Minor in Revelation 2-3. For believers who trample the world underfoot and win the war against the influence of the world, the enticement of the devil, and the lusts of the flesh, these seven rewards are promised:
(1)Access to the Tree of Life (Rev. 2:7b). “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” The tree of life was in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9), but Adam and Eve were restricted from it by cherubim with flaming swords because they had sinned against God (Gen. 3:24). The tree of life will be waiting in the new heavens and new earth to be enjoyed by all who overcame the world by the power of the Second Adam. Permission to the tree of life was denied in Eden because Adam and Eve listened to and obeyed the devil. Permission to the tree of life is granted in glory to those who listen to and obey God.
(2) Eternal Life (Rev. 2:10b-11). “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life . . . The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” The crown of life represents participation in Christ’s heavenly and victorious rule. Right now, you reign with Christ on earth in a spiritual and unseen kingdom. When all is said and done, you will reign with Christ on earth in a literal kingdom—in the new heavens and new earth. He will crown you with life if you are victorious over the world. He will also prevent you from being touched by the second death. The second death is, of course, the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14; 21:8). If you believe in Christ and overcome the world, you only die once. If you reject Christ and serve the world, you die twice. As someone once said, “Born once, die twice; born twice, die once.” The second death is of no concern to the overcomer.
(3) Feasting with Jesus (Rev. 2:17). “To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” Jesus promises that overcomers will feast with Him in eternity. The hidden manna is the heavenly food you will consume at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). You’ll share a feast with the True Bread from heaven Himself (John 6:32-33). The white stone is your admission token. It is the invitation pass to partake in Jesus’ supper. That it is white symbolizes righteousness, meaning those who receive it are only those made righteous by the atonement of Christ. And finally, the new name simply means you will have a new status in heaven. God’s name will be upon you (Rev. 22:3-4). Feasting with Christ—what a reward! To feast with Him, you must resist feasting at the table of the world, as God enables you by His grace. The conqueror is rewarded after a bloody fight with the world by eternal fellowship and feasting with the King of kings.
(4) Ruling and Reigning with Christ (Rev. 2:26-28). “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.” Jesus guarantees that if you triumph over the world you shall rule and reign with Him. Psalm 2 explained that the Messiah would build an invincible kingdom and you are part of it right now. You rule and reign with Christ in this life, for He has made you a kingdom (Rev. 1:6). Moreover, you do not need to worry about prestige and approval in this life, because in the next life you will rule with the Lord Jesus Christ.
(5) Your Name Will Remain in the Book of Life (Rev. 3:5). “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” Jesus promises that your name will never be removed from the book of life. In addition to the white robe of righteousness, which will be your heavenly attire, Christ assures that your name will never be taken out of His book. This book is, of course, the “registry” of the names of all believers. Christ also promises that He will confess your name before the Father and the angels in heaven. The assurance Christ gives here, that your name is permanently written in the book of life, is another way of describing the doctrine of the security of the believer’s salvation. All true believers will endure to the end, and part of that endurance is overcoming the world.
(6) Eternal Belonging to God (Rev. 3:12). “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.” Christ says you’ll be a pillar in heaven, meaning, like a pillar, you will not be moved—your heavenly residence will be permanent. It’s not like a hotel where you check in at 3 and check out at 11 the next morning—once you check in to heaven, you can’t check out. Also, many names will be “written” on you, indicating complete irrevocable belonging to God. You name what is yours; you are God’s.
(7) Sharing in Jesus’ Victory (Rev. 3:21). “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” The overcomer will sit on the throne with Jesus Christ. Christ said something like this to His disciples in Matthew 19:28, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” In Revelation, that promise is expanded—the overcomer will sit on the throne with Jesus Christ. As Paul said, “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Tim. 2:12). Don’t you want to be there with Him? Don’t you want to be by His side throughout all eternity? What a wonderful promise to encourage us to persevere!
Will you wield your Sword, clothe yourself in armor, and brace yourself for a bloody fight (Eph. 6:10-20)? Will you persevere and stand your ground till the end? Will you be a conqueror?
Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
A cover-up is an attempt to conceal evidence of wrongdoing, usually to avoid embarrassment. Politicians cover up their scandals by burying them in lies and abusing the power of their office to escape scot-free. Criminals try to avoid justice by destroying physical evidence that ties them to their crimes and misdeeds.
You and I do it, too. We cover our writing mistakes with opaquing fluid, like Wite-Out (I thought this whole time it was spelled “White-Out”). We apply make-up and other cosmetics to cover our blemishes and improve our appearance. Even young children will stand their ground and deny any association to the lipstick smeared on the bedroom wall while it’s caked on their faces.
Where does the tendency to cover up wrongdoing come from? Why do we go to great lengths to conceal our mistakes? Perhaps the book of Genesis holds the answer. Observe how our first parents reacted when God confronted them about committing the first sin, eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:
“And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths . . . The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:7b, 8b-13).
Adam and Eve attempted to cover up their evildoing by covering themselves (v. 7), hiding from God (v. 8), and blaming everyone else—Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed Satan (vv. 11-13).
Albeit futile, it is within our nature to cover up sin. We try burying our sin in good works that make us feel better about ourselves. We try covering our sin by blaming the culture. We sometimes cover our sin by denying we’ve even committed any.
But God sees all things—His sight is so penetrating that it burns through everything we might use to cover it up (Rev. 1:14). The only cover for sin that is sufficient is the blood of Jesus Christ—the covering God Himself provides (see Genesis 3:21). And the proper response to committing sin is not covering it up—it’s confession: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).
Resources from the Ministry of Pastor Brandon G. Bramlett
Brandon's Desk 