Getting The Most From Your Job

INTRO.- ILL.- Freddie was eighteen years old, friendly, and eager to do things right. Unfortunately, he wasn’t especially bright. He had just started his first job, as a delivery boy and general gofer at a furniture warehouse. His first task was to go out for coffee.

He walked into a nearby coffee shop carrying a large thermos. When the clerk finally noticed him, he held up the thermos. "Is this big enough to hold six cups of coffee?" he said. The clerk looked at the thermos, hesitated for a few seconds, then finally said, "Yeah. It looks like about six cups to me."

"Good," Freddie said. "Give me two regular, two decaf, and two extra strong.”

All I can say is: at least he tried to do the right thing. It could be that half the battle of learning to like your work is learning to do the right thing.

Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

If you do the right thing in this world and at work, it will come back to bless you. If you do the wrong thing (and on purpose) it will come back to bite you.

This scripture applies to all of life, not just work. If we sow good, we’ll reap good. If we sow bad stuff, we’ll reap bad stuff.

And some people are always trying to do the wrong thing by doing as little as possible no matter what kind of job they have.

ILL.- When I worked for Safeway in the 1960‘s some guys could find more ways to goof off and especially, when the boss wasn’t around. At one time there were 5 or 6 of us employees who went to work at 10 p.m. and worked until 7 a.m. That was back when stores weren’t open 24/7. We were locked in the store at night and our job was to stock the shelves.

I remember one night when the manager drove out of the parking lot that one of the stockers got a lawn chair out that we sold, got in it and went to sleep for hours. He may have worked a couple of hours after he woke up. He didn’t last long. It was obvious he wasn’t interested in working.

I was told later that sometimes when the manager would leave the parking lot he would merely go around the block and then park down the street and watch to see if we really worked or not.

Work ethic will help a person throughout all of life: at home, in school, in the military, in the working world, etc.

The mentality to work is a good thing. Our God worked in the beginning of time as we know it. God worked when He created the starry universe, earth, plant and animal life, etc. Of course, we assume that His work was not hard since He is God! But He was pleased to work and have given us that good example.

John 5:17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."

If God and Christ are working, then we must too!

PROP.- Let’s think about how to get more out of life and our work.

1- Put more into it

2- Always be considerate of others

3- Realize who your real boss is

I. PUT MORE INTO IT

ILL.- For thirty years, Johnson had arrived at work at 9 A.M. on the dot. He had never missed a day and was never late.Consequently, when on one particular day 9 A.M. passed without Johnson’s arrival, it caused a sensation. All work ceased, and the boss himself, looking at his watch and muttering, came out into the corridor.

Finally, precisely at ten, Johnson showed up, clothes dusty and torn, his face scratched and bruised, his glasses bent. He limped painfully to the time clock, punched in, and said, aware that all eyes were upon him, "I tripped and rolled down two flights of stairs in the subway. Nearly killed myself."

And the boss said, "And to roll down two flights of stairs took you a whole hour?"

You just can’t please some bosses. However, I think it pays to get to work on time and even ahead of time if you want to get more out of your work. Or even offer to work extra hours.

ILL.- When I worked as Assistant Manager at the Trees ‘n Trend store in Cape Girardeau, MO, the manager hired a young, nicely-dressed young woman to manager our wedding department. It wasn’t long before we discovered she was taking an hour and a half for lunch. Employees were only allowed an hour for lunch. She would leave for lunch and purposely forget to clock out. When she came back from lunch she would clock in and then write in the time she supposedly left for lunch to make it look like she’d only been gone an hour for lunch. SHE DIDN’T WORK FOR OUR COMPANY VERY LONG.