Do you know why we have a holiday called Labor Day?
“In 1863, eleven-year-old Peter McGuire sold papers on the street in
New York City. He shined shoes and cleaned stores and later ran errands.
When he was 17, he began an apprenticeship in a piano shop. This job
was better than his others, but he still worked long hours with low
pay. In the spring of 1872, Peter McGuire and 100,000 workers went
on strike and marched through the streets, demanding a decrease in
the long working day. He became known as a "disturber of the public
peace."
In 1881, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and began to organize carpenters
there. He organized a convention of carpenters in Chicago, and it was
there that a national union of carpenters was founded. He became General
Secretary of The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
Peter McGuire and laborers in other cities planned a holiday for workers
on the first Monday in September and on September 5, 1882 the first Labor
Day parade was held in New York City. Twenty thousand workers marched
in a parade up Broadway. They carried banners that read "LABOR CREATES
ALL WEALTH," and "EIGHT HOURS FOR WORK, EIGHT HOURS FOR REST,
EIGHT HOURS FOR RECREATION!" After the parade there were picnics
all around the city. Workers and celebrants ate Irish stew, homemade
bread and apple pie. At night, fireworks were set off. Within the next
few years, the idea spread from coast to coast, and all states celebrated
Labor Day. In 1894, Congress voted it a federal holiday.” From http://homeschooling.about.com
So for all of us who work for our wages – Happy Labor Day! The reality
for most is that wages are not always easily obtained from the employers!
An article this week in CNN’s Money Magazine Online said …
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – Working for The Man may never have been an
overpaid joy, but it has offered a decent way to make a living.
Yet it's become less decent, especially considering how strong productivity
growth has been. Between 1995 and 2005, productivity grew 33.4 percent.
But hourly wages rose only 11 percent, with almost all of that increase
coming during the late 1990s, according to EPI.
But before that the disparity was even greater. Since 1979, productivity
rose 67 percent, while wages rose only 8.9 percent.
The good news in all of this is – God knows! And He will hold all men
accountable for their deeds in this world.
James 5
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming
upon you!
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness
against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure
in the last days.
4 Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept
back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the
ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
There are numerous comments in the Bible about our wages. Jesus spoke
more often about money than He did about heaven! Money has a big place
in our lives and our attitudes about it need to be Godly! The Apostle
Paul quoted from the Old Testament and the New Testament when he spoke
about wages:
1 Tim 5:18
The Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads
out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages."
God knows when your income is affected by unscrupulous managers! The
wages of the worker belongs to the worker and not to the employer!
There are a couple of words used in the market place about the attitude
of handling money and resources … that of having an attitude of scarcity
or an attitude of abundance.
An attitude of scarcity causes an employer to pay low salaries, demand
long hours, provide few if any benefits, be grudging about the days you
need to take off of work, and then they quickly let you go for any small
cause.
It’s far more enjoyable to work for someone who has an attitude of abundance!
The salaries are looked at in a positive light, the hours you work are
fair, benefits are provided as much as the employer is capable of providing,
time off is allowed without griping, and employees seldom quit or are
replaced!
So how are we doing? Do you want to work for someone with a scarcity
attitude or someone who has an abundance attitude?
The Apostle Paul talked about a group of believers who had an abundance
attitude …
2 Cor 8
1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed
on the churches of Macedonia:
2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.
3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond
their ability, they were freely willing,
4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the
fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
5 And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the
Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
The Church in Macedonia was in poverty! If anyone had the right to have
an attitude of scarcity … they had that right. Instead, in their poverty,
when they had to do without some of things they desired, they had an
attitude of abundance! Paul described them as people who had given themselves
to the Lord … then they had given themselves to Paul’s ministry … then
they gave money unselfishly, beyond their ability, so someone else would
be blessed. That is an attitude of abundance!
Attitudes are not created by what you have or what you don’t have. An
attitude of abundance is created by faith. A business man needs to have
faith in God, faith in his own abilities, faith in his product, faith
in his customers to purchase from him, faith in his employees, and faith
in the economy of the nation. Any time his faith wavers in any of these
areas then he begins to fall into a mental attitude of scarcity! We enjoy
working for someone who has faith, don’t we? They tend to have an attitude
of abundance!
At Christmas time, most of us have watched the movie, Its a Wonderful
Life, starring Jimmy Stewart as he played George Bailey. George Bailey’s
family business was in trouble and George was able to make a turn around
with his hard work and positive attitude … until he became discouraged
and wished he had never been born. What the plot of the movie revealed
was the difference between an attitude of abundance and an attitude of
scarcity! The angel in the movie showed George the town griped with an
attitude of scarcity and greed! But remember it was just a movie.
But in real life … one person can make a difference in the entire city!
You and I are the George Bailey’s of Mountain Home! We have the opportunity
to have faith in God, to have faith in our abilities, to have faith in
each other, and to express God’s abundance in our living! It’s not how
much you have … but how much you are willing to give of yourself to others!
Paul praised the church in Macedonia to the other churches as an example
of generosity because they had an attitude of abundance! Then he made
this exhortation to the rest of us:
2 Cor 9
6 He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully.
7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or
of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always
having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every
good work.
Your boss is not the final authority as to whether you have scarcity
or abundance! God is!
When we develop an attitude of abundance toward our money … God demonstrates
his attitude of abundance in giving grace in return! Does He always give
back in money? No. He gives back in grace for our sins, in answered prayer,
in healthy body’s, in cars that don’t break down as often, in small blessings
along our path, and in giving us bonuses when we don’t expect it!
What God is most concerned about is our attitude in life than He is
about how much money you have … or keep. What do you do with your resources?
Listen to verse 8 …
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always
having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every
good work.
“God is able to make all grace abound toward you …” do you believe that?
Do you trust God? When we trust God we will believe that we will “always
have all sufficiency in all things.” We will also expect to have an abundance
for whatever need which arises.
God wants you to have your needs met. Jesus does not want any of us
to live with an attitude of scarcity or lack. He wants to bless you with
an attitude of abundance! As we live with that attitude then God will
make all grace abound to us and we will be blessed!
The Lord is concerned about you and your finances. He is concerned about
our attitude toward money. He desires to meet our needs. If you need
prayer … call on Him now!
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