Page 8 - January 2026 - Truth & Tidings

" ervants, obey in all things your in heaven has redeemed us and owns us

masters according to the flesh; not
entirely. Our work now serves a redemp-
Swith eyeservice, as menpleasers;
but in singleness of heart, fearing God: tive purpose, and how I serve my earthly
boss reflects how I serve the Lord Himself.
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as
to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing The Will
that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward There isn’t much wiggle room for the
of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord employee to disobey his employer; we are
Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall re- to “obey in all things” (v22). If asked to go
ceive for the wrong which he hath done” the extra mile, do the admin or work late,
(Col 3:22-25). 1 Christians are expected to obey. This is a
Introduction matter of the will. Yielding our will to the
will of the boss is, in fact, yielding to the
In the ancient world, it was easy for will of God.
the slave to keep his eyes down. Whether
physically looking down at the ground or The Heart
metaphorically downcast due to his status Paul reminds the slave that he must not
in the Roman empire, he had little reason work only when the boss is watching in
to look up. However, the Bible shows us order to get into his good books. The em-
that any vocation can have transcendent ployee that is marked by this “eyeservice”
significance. We should fix our eyes on its (v22) is very short-sighted. He might fool
spiritual realities, which, if believed and his boss for a short while, but ultimately
obeyed, will transform our physical work. the eye of God is always upon him. The
The two main ideas to fix our eyes upon worker that only labours to please others
are the Lordship of Christ and the gain of is not working in “singleness of heart”
eternal reward for our employment. If we (v22). He is a hypocrite, is insincere and is
labour with these in view, our work will not wholehearted in his work. The fear of
be transformed. God is the remedy for such a duplicitous
The Body heart. The fear of God will drive away
the vice of people-pleasing and create a
Paul reminds us that every employee heart of sincerity that loves God, loves
has a “master according to the flesh” (v22). his boss and loves his work. The ethic of
In the Roman Empire that meant that the love should permeate our hearts as we
slave was owned by another. This is why work. Joseph is a wonderful example of
Paul addresses the major parts of the hu- this. Because he feared God (Gen 39:9),
man anatomy in this section: flesh, eyes, there was a genuine affection between
heart, hands and mind. However, “the boss and slave (Gen 39:4,21). Such affec-
master according to the flesh” implies that tion produced a harmonious workplace.
we also have a spiritual master. The Lord
The Hands
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV
unless otherwise noted. The single heart (v22) will show vis-

8 TRUTH kTidings January 2026