On a recent road trip, Cheryl and I needed a break, so we pulled into a Dairy Queen for some ice cream treats. After we received our order, we were sitting in a booth enjoying them. We were the only customers in the place at the time, and we overheard a conversation between the manager and one of his employees back in the kitchen.

“I can’t stand it when people lie to me!”

“What do you mean?”

“He called me the other day and said he couldn’t come to work because he had someone in the hospital. I told him to take care of that and call me later. The next day he came in and I asked him who was in the hospital. He said it was his cat. His cat! I said, ‘That is not a someone.’ And I told him not to lie to me again.”

The manager went on to talk about how the young man tried to justify missing work because he was afraid they were going to put his cat down. The manager said he didn’t understand the ‘work ethic’ of young people today.

I have heard that complaint lots of times. I’ve even used it myself a time or two. People my age tend to bemoan the fact that the younger generations have it easier than we did. But that is not necessarily true. Young people today face different problems and challenges than people my age did. They may have more conveniences, but life is still complicated.

I was raised to work hard. And I was constantly encouraged to do the best I could with the abilities God gave to me. Dad always impressed on me that I should give a fair day’s work for the wages I would receive. I had jobs all going back to the time I was 10 or 11 years old. I helped my brother with his paper route. I mowed yards and weeded flower beds in my neighborhood. I worked in fast food restaurants. I worked in warehouses pulling parts orders and shipping items. I plotted oil well production on logarithmic graph paper for a Petroleum Engineer. There were times in high school that I had three different jobs at the same time. I had jobs throughout my college and seminary days. And my ministry was shaped by the same work ethic instilled in me throughout my formative years.

But none of that matters when it comes to getting into heaven. I can work as long and hard as I want and I could never do enough to merit forgiveness. Thanks be to God I don’t have to do so.

Ephesians 2:8–10 ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Jesus did all the work necessary for us to be forgiven and saved. He gives us eternal life as a gift. It is not what we earn. It is what Jesus earned for us. We are the undeserving recipients of grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

So why have I always tried to work so hard at what I do? Read verse 10 again. When God makes us His children and gives us forgiveness and salvation, the proper response is to do good works. We should try, as my parents taught me, to do our best with the talents He gave us as a way to thank Him for knowing we are saved.