A Word in Season: Christian Ditches (Colossians 3:22-24)

Christian Work Done for the Lord, Not for Human Eyes

Over the last few days, I've had to do a few jobs around the house and the garden, and as often happens when I have that kind of task in hand, I think of the man who dug Christian ditches. You might ask, who on earth is that man, and what on earth is a Christian ditch?

Well, I don't know his name, don't really know where he lived, but an old friend used this man as a sermon illustration years ago, and his example has often come back to me when I have something to do.

He dug Christian ditches. Now, if you've ever had to do that kind of work before, you will know something of what's involved in that kind of digging. Ditches typically, if they're, say, laying cables or pipes, or even if you're digging a foundation, typically you have either an area that's set out or a route you have to follow, and you have to dig a certain width, and you have to dig a certain depth.

And so it might be that you have to dig around an area where another piece of work is going to be done. And the ditch needs to be 18 inches wide, and it needs to be 2 feet deep in order to take whatever cable or pipe needs to be laid.

And if you've ever had to do that kind of digging, you will quickly understand the temptation to cut corners, just to deviate from the route, especially if there's some obstacle in the way, or if the other route seems shorter and easier.

And then your ditch starts to become narrower, ideally just the width of a single spade, and it often becomes shallower. That's because digging ditches is hard work. And a ditch that's no wider than your spade, a ditch that's as shallow as possible, and a ditch that takes the shortest and easiest route is the best kind of ditch you might imagine that you'd want to dig.

Colossians 3:22-24 and Wholehearted Service to Christ

But this man dug Christian ditches. He'd taken to heart the apostles' language from Colossians 3, verse 22, where Paul wrote, Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleases, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

It's very easy, whether it's digging ditches or some other kind of work, to labour hard when the eye of a master is upon us, when we've got some human eye watching over us. It reminds me of the work report that was written by a manager about one of his employees.

I can't remember where I read it, but I do remember the phrase, Works well under constant supervision and when cornered like a rat in a trap. Well, no Christian should only work well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat in a trap, because we don't work for men.

We serve the Lord Christ, and that means that whether or not someone else is watching us, we work to the best of our ability, we work on the appointed lines, and we do the job as well as we possibly can.

We may not be digging Christian ditches, but we ought to be doing Christian work. And I hope that that's true of me, and I hope that it's true of you, that you don't just work well when constantly supervised and cornered, that you don't need to be harassed and chased and chivvied just in order to get any kind of work out of you, that you're a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, who, if you're a Christian, does your work in a Christian way.

You do it to the best of your ability. You do it regardless of whether or not there's a human eye upon you. You do all that you can to bring glory to God in the work that you do and in the way that you do that work.

So it may be that you have some particular task today about the home or the garden. It may be that you're going to work or perhaps you're working from home, but wherever you may be, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleases, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

And whatever you do, do it heartily, eagerly, vigorously, readily and cheerfully, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ.

Remember the man who dug Christian ditches and go and do the same.