In the United States, today is Labor Day, a federal holiday with roots going back as far as the early 1800s.

Over time, the holiday has grown from a one-day, sort of end-of-summer picnic, to a long weekend of festivities, including parades and pool parties (where the weather still allows).

While the focus of the holiday shifted a bit from taking a short rest from one’s own hard work to celebrating the securing of worker’s rights with the labor movement of the late 1800s, the overall intent of the holiday is to recognize and reward hard work and those who do the work as well as those who make doing the work safer and more rewarding.

As I reflect this Labor Day on what it means to be a laborer and what rewards come from laboring, I am reminded of Matthew 9:37 and 38 in which the Lord tells us that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.

While today’s rest is a reward for the hard work of our vocations, I am reminded that a Christian laborer cannot afford to take breaks from laboring for the Lord. The harvest is plentiful because the world is filled with lonely, lost people in need of a Savior, and Brothers and Sisters, we are the only people who know how those hurting people can find healing, how those who are lost can find rescue.

Though today’s rest from your workplace is well-earned I am certain, remember that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Make an effort today to share the love of Jesus with a lost neighbor, friend, or family member. Do a kind deed and give God the credit. Lift the Lord’s name high in conversation, in song, on social media.

Beloved, our rest is found in the Savior’s arms far more than in our favorite armchair. We’ll celebrate our Spiritual Labor Day in Heaven, and it’s far, far longer than a three-day weekend!