Hard Work Teaches What Lectures Can't

After a long day of hauling hay, I got a picture I intend to keep. An old cowboy, grinning and gritty, stands in front of a trailer stacked as high as it would go, with a row of young people beside him. Dirty faces, tired arms, and every one of them proud.

Nobody had to explain to those kids why the work mattered. The cowboy and the trailer showed them.

God put Adam in the garden "to dress it and to keep it" (Genesis 2:15). That was before sin ever entered the world. Work was a gift from God, and the curse only made it harder.

Our children are growing up surrounded by comfort. A boy or girl who has never been tired for a good reason will have a hard time standing firm when the Lord asks something costly of them. A hayfield is a cheap place to learn that.

Paul wrote, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men" (Colossians 3:23). Whatsoever covers the hayfield as much as the pulpit.

Parents, hand your children a real job and work right beside them. Let them get tired. When it's finished, thank God together for the strength to finish it.

Pastor Fortunato
Founding Pastor & Preacher of the Word.
Pilgrim Baptist Church — Cookeville, Tennessee

https://pilgrimbaptist.church/
https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/pilgrimbaptist/