“No Sweat, No Sweet; No Work, No Pay!”

“No Sweat, No Sweat; No Work, No Pay!”
My people say “if you do not swell you jaw you won’t be able to whistle.” This is to say you must put in some effort before you can achieve something.
Paul writes that “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (II Thes.3:6-10). Today we are becoming more aware that people with disabilities do not necessarily fall within the category of those not able to work. This awareness is why it is appropriate to call them “differently abled” and not “people with disabilities.”
While the above definition enables us not to disqualify some people as not being able to work because of disability, we are at the same time faced with natural and man-made dissasters which generates mass movements and displacements of people. These refugees and internally displaced persons periodically may not have any work to do, even when they are willing to work.
Therefore, those who should not eat because they will not work are those who are able to work but are not willing to work because they prefer to be idle.
Paul “commands” us “to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to” what he had earlier instructed them. In his first letter he stated that it should be our ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind our own business and to work with our hands, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid and to help the weak…”(I Thes. 4:11-12&5:14).
Idleness is a canker that it eating deep among the youths. They want to enjoy all the sweet things of life but they do not want to sweat. They want to spend money but they do not want to work. Dear friends, no sweat, no sweet and no work no pay!
Proverbs says we should go and take lessons from the ants. Without a commander over them, they do their work with diligence and even store up some food for the rainy day.
This is important because some women put everything in one meal and go borrowing the next day. When we were growing up we knew bitterleaf was soup of its own, fish was soup of its own, the same for meat and “canda.” But today a woman’s pot of bitterleaf soup also includes fish, meat and “canda.”
My friend, hard work and ingenuity are part of your Christian responsibility. Remember you cannot reap where you did not sow; unless you are a thief. Work hard and the Lord will reward you with plenty.
Sunday prayer: Holy Spirit help me not to be idle but to make an honest living through hard work. Amen!
Have a blessed Sunday! Peace be with you!