Precepts are not for us to teach others, but for us to practice them. "Slaves, give entire obedience to your earthly masters, not merely with an outward show service, to curry favor with men, but with single-mindedness, out of reverence for the Lord." (Colossian 3:22-23) I can certainly criticize St. Paul’s precept or conjecture its meaning; I can understand it as the remnant of the feudal age, a thing of the past; or a threat of the conqueror to the conquered; or I can possibly interpret it as the conciliation of a plant manager or a board member to his employees. As a person living in this time, I too change as the tide rises and falls during ebb and flow. But the truth is valuable because we cannot understand by studying it or bury it by criticizing it; the reason is that only people, who live up to it as ones principle, are allowed to peep at the immeasurable splendor of it.

Brethren! Brethren who work like a slave! Formally employed or invited by an individual or an organization, brethren run errands. Working in selflessness either due to deep interest or enthusiasm, they lift their heads, dropping their tools surprised at evening bell; the setting sun went down the western hills and their shadow covered their job sites, without any colleagues around; even when their masters do not recognize their ‘dead tired’ body after a day’s labor, they are over brimming with thanks toward the Lord for the day past. Being heaped with hope to see the Lord who would praise us in the future, we pray that Lord would give us work tomorrow, for which we would do our best.

Western proverb, "The truth does not come in through the brain but through the limbs," is a pressing precept to modern men. One who has been a laboring servant oneself, rather than being a speaker who glosses over with undone theories, will understands that Apostle Paul was not an unprincipled scholar for the wealthy, and that one can discover the deepest and the highest wisdom of life journey from a simple proverb. The Heaven is the home town for those who stored treasures there; treasures are not limited to silver and gold or gem stones, but beads of sweat from labor without wickedness seem to be the most suitable treasures there. A servant is content with an appropriate recognition of his labor from his master. But, unpaid beads of sweat from labor can store treasures tenfold or hundredfold in the Heaven; comparing the great profit in yonder world to the trivial loss in this world is like comparing the day light to a flickering candle light.

"Obey your master with single-mindedness, out of reverence for the Lord" is definitely not a training scheme to uncivilized people; it is written, "The wisdom of their wise men shall vanish and the discernment of the discerning shall be lost." (Isaiah 29:14)Oh, great Apostle Paul, who make us reach the Heaven, the most High, with such a plain proverbs! A servant prior to becoming a believer shall put his whole heart into his work as a servant, and a factory worker shall be diligent to his duties, in order to store treasures in the Heaven. In many occasions, impetuous deeds for changing situations can be harmful than profitable. "If the masters are believers, the slaves must not respect them any less for being their Christian brothers." (1Timothy 6:2) "Servants, accept the authority of your masters with all due submission, not only when they are kind and considerate, but even when they are perverse."(1 Peter 2:18) Such are the precepts for Christians; blessed are chosen ones who can taste the sweetness of precepts, through beads of sweat from labor.


(Message: I had been a sick boy and was failing in school badly when I was about 10th grader. The school mandated us to join a club and other clubs required considerable money for a poor boy to participate in those club activities, I joined a rock-climbing club at the school, practicing rock climbing after school at a rocky hill nearby, hiking and rock-climbing at various mountains in the suburb, and mountaineering to famous mountains during vacations. It took sweating labor and toil to climb to the top of a rock or to the summit of a mountain, but it always paid off by giving pleasure of succeeding what I wanted to reach to the top and viewing lower sceneries from the summit. I learned that I had to pay my beads of sweat to enjoy my satisfaction of achievement and self-esteem.

In addition, I started enjoying social life with other club members. The more I enjoyed my life, the less I thought about the poverty and sickness I was having, which lead me to a healthier life. Also, exercising in nature and spending happy moments contributed for healthier mind and body, all because I sweated it out. God said to Adam, "You shall gain your bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground." (Genesis 3:19) I gained a lot more than bread throughout my life journey.

At that time, I had no prospect of entering Seoul National University, and my elder brother insisted that I must go there for prestige and lower tuition, comparing to other private colleges. To escape from the dilemma, I decided to run away to Germany, dreaming that I would be able to find a job in a rich country and support myself while going college there, probably inspired by a movie about students’ life at Heidelberg University in Germany. America was not in my picture, probably because I did not understand irregular grammar in English. I had been getting further and further behind in English class for four years, but we just started German in 10th grade. So, I studied it really hard, and I was able to read novels in a year or less. By then, government changed law to ban high school graduates from going abroad to study, until they fulfill compulsory military service.

Because I could not escape to Germany, I had to face reality; what kind of career to pursue and how to live an independent living as a head of a family, etc. Single mother was too poor to give me some seed money for me to start a business or a farm, and I did not have any special talent to become an actor or a musician, for example. Only option I had was to go to a college to get a decent salary for a survival. I decided to apply study skills, which I acquired while I was studying German, to English. I began from the basics and studied morning to midnight everyday until I caught up with vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing. By then, I understood that I had to memorize basic rules in my long-term memory to answer problems. Now, I had to master Mathematics from the basics to Algebra and Geometry. I really put in labor and toil with all my strength and wisdom, by solving supplementary Math practice book published for students preparing college entrance examination. The driving force was, "Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8) My labor and toil paid me off handsomely; the result of the first mock test place my name at the bottom 10-15%, but several months later, it was at the top 10-15% when school stopped publishing ranking of students by the score.

I learned that God bless us through our labor. We achieve our goal through our labor. Jesus said, "My Father has never yet ceased his work, and I am working too." (John 5:17) Apostle Paul laid down the rule to Thessalonians, "The man who will not work shall not eat." (2Thessalonians 3:10) These became my standards toward labor, too.)