The late John Murray, longtime theologian at Westminster Theological Seminary, summarized the burden of work from these texts this way in his important book, Principles of Conduct [87-88].

It is the consciousness of divine vocation in the particular task assigned to us that will imbue us with the proper sense of responsibility in the discharge of it. The New Testament lays peculiar stress on the God-oriented motivation and direction of all our toil. This is, of course, the specific application of the governing principle of all of life – “whether therefore you eat or drink of whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). “For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself: for if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord” (Rom. 14:7-8). But the specific application to the sphere of labor receives particular emphasis. There is a good reason for this. When labor involves drudgery, when the hardship is oppressive, when the conditions imposed upon us are not those which mercy and justice would dictate, when we are tempted to individual or organized revolt, when we are ready to recompense evil on the part of our master with the evil of careless work on our part, it is just then that we need to be reminded, “whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive an inheritance as a reward” (Col. 3:23-24).

It is in the context of this exhortation that the apostle lays his finger on the cardinal vice of our labor: we do it to please men. “Servants, obey your earthly masters in everything, and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord” (Col. 3:22).

Working for over 40 years in various locations I have found fellow some employees having a much better work ethic than mine, some having about the same passion for work, and some having a lesser passion for their work. For me there was and still is an internal tension when working alongside with others – both believers and non-believers. The challenge for me when working has always been to completely understand I don’t need to be recognized for my good deeds at work, at home, or in the Church.

Here are ways I would like for God, the Holy Spirit to change me:

Charles Simeon, the great Anglican evangelical of the 18th and 19th centuries, speaking to himself in his diary: Talk not about myself.

Thomas à Kempis in his masterpiece, Imitation of Christ: “Desire to be unknown.”

Jeremy Taylor the saintly writer of the spiritual classics Holy Living and Holy Dying, “O teach me to love to be concealed.”

Archbishop Leighton, the godly Scot of the Second Reformation, “Be ambitious to be unknown.”

The crest of the French catholic mystic, François Fénelon, “ama nesciri”, that is, “love to be unknown.”

And, better still, Bonaventure tells us in his Life of St. Francis of Assisi [229] that when people extolled the holiness and piety of Francis – in other words, when Francis got precisely those plaudits that Jesus here warns his disciples not to seek (and, of course, he got lots of such praise) – he commanded one of his friars to do the opposite. That is, Francis would depute one of his monks to follow him wherever he went and whenever people praised him for his piety, this monk was under strict orders to whisper spiritual insults in Francis’ other ear. So, when someone praised Francis for his holiness, this monk would tell him that he was boorish and mercenary, unskilled and useless. And Francis would reply, “May the Lord bless you my beloved son for it is you who speak the very truth and what the son of Peter Bernadone should hear.”

When I read Psalm 55:1-8, 12-19, and 22-23 I have thought what am I to think about when there is or has been treacherous activity in my workplace. At times I moaned about it, but I do not believe I should have. According to verse 22, there is a better plan or way for me. That is to cast my cares on the Lord and he will sustain me. It is Satan who wants to work into my frustrations. He wants me paralyzed in giving 110% when I saw awful workplace politics and poor leadership – from both believers and non-believers. I needed always to run to the Lord. He is my shelter, and he deals with unfair policies in the workplace. This has always been helpful and given me peace about unfair practices in the workplace.