Proverbs 16:26 Commentary and Bible Study

If you are a labourer and the work is heavy, why do you do it? Because you have to eat. You are spurred on by your mouth which demands to be satisfied. We are driven forward by our natural appetites and bodily cravings; this is the nature of man. God has so connected the body that all the members work together to satisfy its needs, and some members are willing to make sacrifices and endure discomfort for the sake of other members. Do you have a job which involves drudgery? You do it because you have to work to put food on the table and to supply your family. A lot of what we do, we have to do to get through life. Even our pleasures may be the result of driven behaviour, for boredom will not allow us to do otherwise.But the believer has such a different outlook on life and escapes this treadmill of driven behaviour. If you are a believer then there is a whole lot that you do because you want to do it, even if some things are hard. You may be involved in evangelism which you do not find easy, or teach a Sunday School class requiring considerable time for preparation, or even a simple cleaning task. All these things are done from a new and higher motive: you now live to please the Lord. All things, even mundane things are done for him who has done everything for you. All of life’s chores are done as an expression of gratitude to the Lord. This new motive has the power to transform the hardest life into a source of joy and thanksgiving. Man cannot work for nothing, and every work that he does has in view the reward that he will receive. The one who does not know God works for a reward in this world and therefore he measures everything by the material gain he makes. But the Christian is ready to lose his life in this world in order that he may find it. He is ready to take joyfully the spoiling of his goods, knowing in himself that he has in heaven a better and enduring substance. This is reserved for him in heaven by Christ, while the treasure that he sees the worldling labouring for is one that will not last but is passing away. He serves God out of gratitude for the grace he has already received which is freely given, immeasurably great, and has eternal consequences. He will receive a reward in heaven, but it is a reward far greater than he deserves and may involves him coming last in this world at the hands of the unbeliever.