The other night my kids and I ate at the local Waffle House. I realize that some of you just thought to yourself, “GROSS!”. Not me, I love the WH! Not only do I love their food, but I love to watch their staff work. Most of the time, they operate like a well-oiled machine.
As we were eating, I observed the veteran workers training up the rookies. That was fun to watch, especially when it came to memorizing the Waffle House dialect. They were learning the meaning of phrases such as, “Gimmie a double plate!” (that means a double order of hash-browns), and “Make ‘em scattered, covered, smothered, diced, and chunked!” (that means scatter the hash-browns on the plate, and then cover them with cheese, chili, onions, and ham)–and just for the record, these phrases weren’t being used for my order, they were for another customer!
The longer we sat in that environment, the more I began to draw parallels on the subject of “work”. Here are some of my observations–in no particular order:
1. They communicated well.
2. The staff was phenomenal at the art of multi-tasking.
3. They did a great job with mentoring the new recruits.
4. They demonstrated a tremendous ability to deal with high levels of stress in their work environment.
5. They were “off the charts” when it came to productivity.
6. The servers and cooks were extremely hard workers.
One thing is for sure, if you are allergic to hard work, you won’t last long at the Waffle House in our city. Hard work is good for us, and it’s one of the things God wired us to do. (2 Thessalonians 3:10) -“If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” , and, (1 Timothy 5:8) -“If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
Some people are unable to work, for various reasons, such as, being disabled, handicapped, injured, etc… But for the rest of us who are healthy and able-bodied, God intends for us to work–and to work hard. Unfortunately, some people would rather “hardly work”, than “work hard”, and that does not honor God, because He desires for us to embody a strong work ethic.
Work ethic is important to God because when we are at work, we’re not just working for our employer, we’re working for God. In Colossians 3:17, the apostle Paul states, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
It’s easy to get lazy in our jobs. We can get tired of doing the same thing over and over again, which produces boredom; the result–we turn inward, and become very “me focused”, forgetting the overall mission of our organization. When this happens, it’s time to regroup: take a break, take a day off, take a vacation–take time to recharge your batteries.
Question: What kind of work ethic do you have? Do you execute your job with excellence as if you’re doing it for God, or do you have the attitude that you’re “working for the man”?
The holidays are upon us. Take advantage of any time off that you may get, and do something fun and relaxing. Replenish. Breathe. And go back to work with a fresh perspective.
Think about it.
-Danny