Jeremiah 31:18
“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.”
Recently, I was talking to an employer who relayed to me that they had mistakenly hired someone who didn’t seem to have a good work ethic. They said when they came into their place of employment that the person they hired always seemed to not have anything to do. They told me that they went to the person and asked them why they were not working when there was so much to do. They then began to show this new employee all the tasks that were undone. This employer was truly amazed how this person was unaccustomed to work.
In the verse above, God related Ephraim’s chastisement as a bullock that was unaccustomed to work being whipped and not knowing why. A bullock not knowing how to work truly seems out of character, for they were created to work. The owner of this bullock was beating the bullock because it was standing in its yoke not knowing what to do. This bullock was useless to the owner because it was unaccustomed to work.
One of the character traits every Christian should have is a good work ethic. It should never be said about any Christian that they are unaccustomed to work. In other words, they are not used to working or they are unfamiliar with how to work. The hardest working people on Earth should be God’s people. The world may not like our stand, but they should never point their finger at how we work.
I can remember several years ago when I was in college, I worked for UPS as a loader. There was another young man who was hired with me. It seemed as if this young man had not worked a day in his life. He looked at the boxes coming down the belt and was overwhelmed by all the work. Sadly, this young man ended up being fired because he was unaccustomed to work.
Being accustomed to work starts when children are young. Parents should start training their children how to work from their childhood. Every child should have chores they do around the home. Those chores are to be done before they play. They should learn that play only comes after work. Too many parents get frustrated waiting on their children to finish their chores, so instead of enforcing the principle of work, for the sake of ease the parent does the chore. This must not be done! You must stay on top of your children, for they need to learn how to be accustomed to work.
Moreover, adults need to continue to work on their work ethic. Your children see how you work, and they will learn their work ethic from you. If they see you constantly giving excuses for why you can’t work, then they will follow your example to their own detriment. If they see you sitting when you should be working, then they will learn to sit on the job when they should be working which will one day cause them to lose their job due to their lack of production. Your children will become accustomed to work when they see their parents are hard workers.
Let me encourage you to make work a positive word around your children. Don’t talk negatively about work, but make work sound like the good that it is. When you look at work in a positive light, then your children will grow up and have the same work ethic and perception of work that you do. This will give them a better outlook on life, and will give the parent a child of whom they can be proud.