We Labor Not in Vain

“Holding fast to the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”  - Philippians 2:16 NKJV

We are much filled with labor from day-to-day. The curse of Adam was that he would work for all the days of his life. “…Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17b). Indeed, Adam, and, likewise, every person born of him since then, has labored and toiled from the ground which they came. But we need not be left hopeless, for in this, as in every detail of Scripture, is a lesson of Christ.

Paul was most likely imprisoned in Rome when he penned the verse we are reading today. Yet, even in what many might call a most troublesome time as this, Paul writes most beautifully, “I have not run or labored in vain.” How easy it is to forget what all our labor is for! We often let our circumstances, our emotions, or our situations in life dismiss the work we have done for and to Christ. Even Adam consumed the fruit of his labor, so we too will consume the fruit of our labor done in Christ. But how much more so is the fruit of our labor! “To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).

Dear friend, do not allow this life with all manner of perishable labors and toils dismiss your imperishable work in Christ. For, my brother and sister, we labor not in vain.