Masters, Be Fair & Just

MASTERS BE FAIR AND JUST IN THE WAY YOU TREAT YOUR SLAVES. REMEMBER THAT YOU TOO HAVE A MASTER IN HEAVEN. Colossians 4.1. GNB

The other day, I was told that a young lady comes home from work at 4 am. She works in a busy advertising agency. They have deadlines to meet. Her boss wants to see that everything is done in a hurry. Another young friend of mine works as an accountant and comes home on many nights as late as 8 or 9 pm and goes to work again early in the morning. These mothers do not get to see their little children before they are put to bed by the maids or husbands. They are off again before the children are awake in the morning.

The whole commercial world has turned topsy-turvy. There is a huge hunger for massive profits and corporations are pressing their employees for excessive and unreasonable hours of work. I read in the newspaper the other day, that a big bank in town had made over 2 billion in profits this year, compared to one billion last year! What do you think the CEO is planning for the next fiscal year? Double or triple the profits mostly by overworking the existing staff!

In the civil service, the employees work ‘8 to 4 or 9 to 5’, or about eight hours a day. Any extra hour of work is considered ‘overtime’ and they are paid double for it. There is no such rule in the commercial sector. The authorities insist that the subordinate staff work only a maximum of 48 hours a week in many countries. In order to circumvent the rule, the commercial sector promotes the staff to the executive level and avoids paying overtime!

Some bosses get to work very late after their morning golf but they sit at their desk late into the night. No one is to leave the office before the boss leaves, whether they have work or not! Whether slaves or employees, the teaching of the Word of God is, “Masters, be fair and just in the way you treat them”.

If the ‘masters, CEOs and bosses’ do not obey the Word but take unfair advantage of their staff, then, the staff, especially Christians, individually and collectively may begin to exert gentle pressure for their legitimate rights. It is not right for a man or woman, especially one with a family and children, to be kept in the office beyond reasonable hours. Many women are CEOs today and they treat their staff harsher then the men! All these injustices must cease.

If you are a Christian boss, then begin to obey God’s Word. Treat your staff and subordinates justly and fairly. If you are a Christian staff or worker, re-consider your priorities about family, personal devotion and spiritual activities. Pray and make changes in your job if the situation is impossible. Take a job with less work and stress and perhaps less pay. But whatever you do, when you are at it, work much harder so that you can finish faster and get home to be with your family. Those of you who are on your own, decide on ‘what is enough!’ Don’t push yourself and others beyond the limits, just for personal financial gains. It is not worth it because you will lose your health, your spouse and children, and even your God!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, I thank You for Your Word is a light to my path and a lamp to my feet. It instructs me about every area of my life. Help me to take action to safeguard my family and above all my spiritual life. Amen.