Work for the Lord!

Colossians 3:23

Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men.

C.S. Lewis’ Uncle Screwtape throws the peculiar light of hell on today’s verse and shows us how light the yoke is that our Lord places upon our shoulders.  He writes to his apprentice Wormwood concerning the human “patient” he is trying to tempt to damnation and alienation from God (whom Screwtape calls “the Enemy”): “The man can neither make, nor retain, one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift…  He is also, in theory, committed to a total service of the Enemy; and if the Enemy appeared to him in bodily form and demanded that total service for even one day, he would not refuse.  He would be greatly relieved if that one day involved nothing harder than listening to the conversation of a foolish woman; and he would be relieved almost to the pitch of disappointment if for one half-hour in that day the Enemy said, ‘Now you may go and amuse yourself.’  Now, if he thinks…for a moment, even he is bound to realise that he is actually in this situation every day.”  Realize you are in that situation today as you go to work. Then work heartily and serve the Lord.

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Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

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