Another example of labor in the Bible was the labor of Judas and Lazy man
JUDAS
He performed hard labor to betray Jesus Christ. It cannot be an easy task to betray Jesus! What effort it must have taken to convince the high priest that he can turn Jesus over to them? But he prevailed and his mission was accomplished. His hard work paid off, he was able to betray - the Son of God, Savior of the world; the Ancient of Days; the Healer; Provider; our Sustainer; the Way-Maker; the Creator; One with all authority; Omnipresent Omniscient (knows all) Omnipotent (all powerful) God. Judas was pleased that his mission was accomplished.
LAZY MAN
The book of Proverbs provided great insight about the labor of the lazy man. Proverbs 24:30-31. The field of the lazy man is filled with thorns. What effort he goes through to ensure the thorns continue to grow and the walls of his house are broken. He had to labor hard to scheme that I) there was a lion on the road Prov 26:13 II) there is still a lion on the street, it will kill me Prov 22:13. The lazy man put his hands into an empty bowl of food, and kept it there since he is lazy, it wearied him to bring the hand out of the empty bowl of food (Prov 26:15). The lazy man labored to figure out how to eat during winter, so he devised this plan - an innovative plan, quite insightful, most people did not know about this plan until the invention of the lazy man, the plan is - "beg for food during winter" (Prov 20:4).
There is another typification of labor that cannot or ever be replicated. Nonetheless, it is worthy of our consideration.
JESUS - Isaiah 53:4-11. :
ENDURER OF GRIEF, CARRIER OF SORROWS, God's afflicted and smitten One. The Oppressed One, SIN CARRIER, the Convict, Prisoner, and the Slaughtered One.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9 And they[a] made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11 He shall see the labor of His soul,[b] and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
There is no further explanation required to elaborate on the depth of the labor of Jesus Christ. The Word spoke for Himself, still speaks today, and will continue to speak.
FRUITS OF THE LABOR
To break down the fruits of the different examples of labor we have discussed may take another series, rather, let us trust God that the summary will suffice for the hearers of the word today.
Judas - Acts 1:15-20 The fruit of Judas' labor was "suicide".
Paul - He had two types of labor - pre-conversion and post-conversion. The fruit of the pre-conversion labor includes suffering, imprisonment, pain, affliction, agony, and death. For his post-conversion labor - 2 Tim 4:8 crown of righteousness.
Lazy man- poverty and hunger, cold in winter, though he desires but he will have nothing
Jesus- Mark 16:19-20.
19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
The fruit of the labor of Jesus Christ includes - a place in Heaven, eternity with the Lord, preaching the gospel everywhere, and signs following the believers.
EATING THE FRUITS OF THE LABOR
Eating the fruit of ones labor is an insightful concept. Labor is quite subjective. I am not referring to the type of labor, as we can see that Paul, Judas, the lazy man, and Jesus all labored in their unique and different ways. No one doubted the work they did. The subjectivity I am referring to is about the amount of effort that goes into their labor. For example, the lazy man may have to scheme and employ different tactics to create the impression that he was laboring. We label him lazy because to the average person, not doing any positive good work makes him lazy, but to Mr. Lazy - it takes a lot of hard work to be lazy.
Oftentimes, people pray that they will eat the fruit of their labor. The fruit of Mr Lazy's hard work is hunger, that of Judas was pain agony and untimely death by suicide. The fruit of Paul's pre -conversion labor were pain, agony, imprisonment, affliction, and death; and for his post-conversion labor, it was the crown of righteousness. That of Jesus is salvation for all humanity, eternity in heaven, peace on earth, and many more that cannot be counted, for sure it includes the crown of righteousness that Paul had.
Knowing that the fruit of Mr Lazy's labor is hunger, or suicide for Judas; would anyone truly pray to eat the fruit of such labor as theirs? Even if you think you are a good person, the Bible made it clear that no one is good except Christ. He said our righteousness is like a filthy rag, why then would you pray to eat the fruit of your labor? No matter what you do, the fruits of your labor can never be good enough. Psalms 136:1 says: oh give thanks to the Lord for His mercies endures forever. This mercies makes available to us the salvation given through our Lord and Savior.
There is a labor that the fruit is ripe and delightful to the soul. This is the fruit of the labor of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not waste your time desiring the fruit of your labor or that of any other - draw to Jesus and enjoy the fruit of His labor. To possess the fruit of the labor of Jesus Christ, all you need is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The fruit is sufficient for a lifetime of peace and joy, and an eternal time of everlasting presence with Him in heaven.
The fruit of your labor can never be good enough - the lazy man did not know he was lazy, neither did Judas assumed he was evil, refrain from desiring your fruit- you might be a lazy man yet not know it, you might be evil yet delusional like Judas - Desire the fruit of Jesus' labor
