A Strange Holiday

1 Thes. 4:11 (NLT) 11 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.,
2 Thes. 3:10-12 (NLT) 10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” 11 Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. 12 We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living.
God has always honored work
Genesis 2:2 (NLT) “2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested[a] from all his work.”
God is a worker
Genesis 2:15 (NLT) “15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.” 
Luke 2:8 (NLT) “8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.”
Jesus honored work as well
He was a carpenter.  
Mark 6:3 (NLT) “3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary[a] and the brother of James, Joseph,[b] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.”
Luke 10:7 (NLT) “7 Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.”
Sin caused work to be unpleasant.
Genesis 3:17-19 (NLT) “17 And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”
Employees want the most money for the least work
Management wants the most work for the least money.
It’s called entitlement.

Ephesians 6:5-9 “5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. 6 Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart. 7 Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 8 Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.
9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.”
Ephes. 4:28 “If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.” 
Colossians 3:22-24 “22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” 
Matthew 7:12 (NLT) “12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them…"
People are more important than property.
Colossians 3:23 “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”
We can’t claim to be Christians if our Christianity is only a one-day a week affair.