“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)
Paul writes this to first-century slaves — people with essentially no control over their work, no career advancement to strive for, working under masters who may have given them little reason for enthusiasm. And even to them, he says: work heartily, as for the Lord.
This reframes work entirely. If your ultimate audience is God, not your boss, not your customers, not whoever might or might not notice — the quality of your effort isn’t contingent on whether it’s being recognized or fairly compensated. Unseen, unglamorous, undervalued work can still be genuine worship if it’s offered with that orientation.
This isn’t a passage that excuses actual injustice or says fair treatment doesn’t matter (Paul addresses masters’ obligations right after this). But for the person currently doing thankless, overlooked work, it reframes the whole thing: you’re not ultimately working for the person who may never adequately notice. You’re working for the one who always does.
Reflect: What thankless or overlooked work are you doing right now that you could reframe as service to Christ, not just to whoever’s supervising it?
Prayer: Lord, let my work today be for you, not just for whoever’s watching. Help me work heartily, trusting you as my true audience. Amen.