‘Something the boss said’

Employees down at the factory were getting to know their newest co-worker.

“So, why did you leave your last job?” one of them asked.

“It was something my boss said,” the new guy replied.

“Why? What did he say?” the co-worker asked.

“He said, ‘You’re fired,’” the new guy replied.

Something similar to that happened to a king in the Old Testament. You remember Saul, the first king of Israel. He became disobedient to God, doing things he shouldn’t have been doing, going places he shouldn’t have been going, and saying things he shouldn’t have been saying.

The next thing you know, God had had enough of Saul and sent His prophet Samuel to anoint a new king to replace him.

Saul was essentially fired because he was serving himself rather than serving God.

The Bible tells us in no uncertain terms that that’s the wrong way to go about our jobs.

Colossians 3:23 tell us, “Whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as to the Lord, and not for men.”

I graduated college some 40 years ago and went to work in journalism, a field I absolutely loved. Through the years, I worked for several newspapers large and small but spent the largest chunk of my career with The Associated Press.

I once had the honor of starting a great newspaper in Kentucky, aptly called “Kentucky Today,” and, for the past three years, I worked in Georgia to revive The Christian Index, the nation’s oldest religious newspaper.

I finished that task a couple of weeks ago.

Now, as I head into retirement, I can look back with satisfaction because the Lord enabled and empowered me to do my job well.

I enjoyed what I did. Someone once said if you love your job, you will never have to “work” a day in your life, meaning what you do won’t seem like work.

That’s not to say there weren’t difficult times. There were. But, overall, it has been great.

In all those years, I followed the biblical admonition to work hard and trust in the Lord, and, as a result, I never had to leave a job because of something the boss said.

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Reach Roger Alford at 502-514-6857 or rogeralford1@gmail.com.