In Deuteronomy 16, Moses is once again reminding the people to rejoice and celebrate in God’s presence. In the middle of this monologue Moses inserts a nugget and tells the people that the Lord will bless their work and their joy will be complete. The precursor to this blessing from the Lord and the joy in the presence of God is that their lifestyle is marked by trust and obedience to God.
Moses’ words are applicable for us who love, worship, and follow Jesus Christ. In Colossians 3:23, Paul writes, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you are working for the Lord rather than for people.” Paul was not writing this to some top executive or a construction manager or even a pastor. Paul was telling this to those whose personhood was denied because they were bought as slaves into Roman households. Some of them would have been teachers or doctors caring for their Roman masters, others would have been forced to do hard labor in the home. Sometimes they would even be hired out to be slaves for other people for a price. Paul was telling them to do everything their “earthly masters” asked them to do as unto the Lord.
The reason for this attitude lies behind our trust in God and in His sovereignty. In the story of our life, it is only the introduction that is covered in our life on earth. The chapters will be written in eternity. When we trust God and do everything because of our trust in God, He will bless our work - and this blessing from the Lord will be fully realized when we enter eternity. As Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, we can know with certainty that our labor will not be in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).
