There was a time in my life when I earned my wages by serving as a construction laborer. I mixed mortar, carried lumber, moved steel, and any and everything else the boss wanted done at my hand. Most of my work is still evident whenever I drive on Interstate 75 in central Michigan. I assisted in the building of several overpasses! They still stand! My blood was shed for—and in—each one of them.

I think there is something about a permanent reminder of what we have done in life. I believe that is one thing about receiving our final reward in heaven—getting our just recognition for what we’ve done that’s right and good. The problem: as I age I discover that the quality of what I have done in life deserves so little reward.

And what if nothing of our efforts survives at all? How frustrating it must be to make fireworks, only to watch them go up in smoke before your eyes—GONE! I suspect that it is a better thing not to put my own value on the labor I perform. If I have few expectations of reward for my work, I cannot be disappointed, right?

Saint Paul shares a word for us in 1 Corinthians 15.58: ‘Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.’ If I labor for the Lord—regardless of what I am doing for him, he sees, and he rewards me for my work. MY WORK IS TO DO ALL MY WORK FOR GOD!