Work—It’s Good for You
The year was 1952. I was a sophomore in high school in Meridian, Mississippi. Though I weighed just slightly more than one hundred pounds, I joined the football team. Practice began several weeks prior to the beginning of school. I realized I was a bit small and knew little about the game, but I wanted to play and participated in practice. As school began, I swelled with pride when friends said, “Hey, Wade, I hear you are going out for football.”
The first week of school, I received a call from a local grocery store. Earlier that summer, I had applied for a job. They wanted me to come to work. Suddenly, I had a decision to make. If I played football, there was no time to work. If I worked, I could not play football. However, if I worked, I would have money to do things our modest family could not afford. With mixed feelings, I emptied my football locker and took the job paying the breathtaking salary of twenty-five cents an hour.
It was the right decision. I have looked back on that decision many times, but never with regret. Our family believed in work. As children, we had chores and learned the honor of doing them well. We were taught, “Hard work builds character. People of character earn their way in the world.”
I like to think our ability to work is part of the image of God in us. When we work with our hands and make things, we are a little like the Creator. The reward and pride of work begins early. Perhaps you have pictures on your refrigerator that your child or grandchild drew. That child worked hard to create the drawing and brought it to you with pride.
There was a television program I liked, “American Restoration.” People brought in broken objects; and craftsmen restored them to good as new—for a healthy price I might add. The highlight of the program was when they dramatically unveiled their work for all to see. They were duly proud of what their hands had made.
Next Monday is Labor Day in America. The history behind this day of celebration may be different from what I have outlined here; but I believe it is good to celebrate work. Even Jesus seemed to think so; He said, “I must do the work My Father sent me to do.” (John 9:4)
