Ephesians 6:5-8
With Good Will

Bent back, sinews stretched to the full, pores opened and flowing freely –
Nonstop time that moves slowly but surely to the coming darkness –
Straining of the bones and muscles, striving to please without rancor or hate.
Repetition not one day, but on and on endlessly, wondering when it will stop –
Eyes looking but not seeing, hands acting with skill from endless days past –
Mind that sees blank spaces aching to be filled with knowledge and light and hope.
And yet above the payless service – a Person, The Light, I serve Him – with good will!

The heat is relentless, the thirst never satisfied, the occupation overwhelming with sameness –
The voice urging constantly, the pace set two steps too fast, the weariness coming like a shadow –
The testing again and again, the labor intense, the trappings basic and few, the hope out the window but back again tomorrow to be repeated.
Necessity requires this effort to meet the needs of others at the expense of self –
Freedom to pamper self has long since gone in the dim and distant past –
And change is hard because there is no assurance that things can ever get better.
But in the future – “well done good and faithful servant!” from the Master of masters.

Back to the seat again and again one hundred and eighty times: bored, bored, bored –
Then on to the next station of the day: it is hard to understand, I don’t get it, please help me –
Is this my service, my life for twelve years or more? This seems endless, timeless, hopeless.
Papers filled with words, constantly words; then figures, numbers, page numbers by the score –
Books full of information, so much useless information to get what is needed and wanted-
I know it is necessary but I don’t have to like it, I just have to do it because it is the path I walk.
Good will is not always easy, but when it is done for the Master – it is worth it!

This day, this work, this calling, this labor is not over yet – payday hasn’t come –
When the accounting time arrives; when this name is called; when the last effort is ended,
Then comes the time to receive from Him, the Master, the Lord of all, a true accounting.
Pleasing of men, eye service, complaints, agitation, bitterness – all have no worth –
A single heart in love to Him, constrains the best effort out of a meaningless task –
Because it is “the will of God”, done “to the Lord”, with “good will”, doing a “good thing”; I rejoice in the privilege of service.
Pay or no pay is not a consideration, because the Lord knows the motive and will give as He sees fit!