Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them
Recently I was talking to a technician at a large hospital in the Nashville area. This technician was a traveling technician. He travelled from place to place, hospital to hospital to do his work. Oftentimes, people follow their work. My people on both sides of my family were in agriculture. The Rices were ranchers. The Binghams were farmers in South Dakota and several generations before that in Illinois. They followed their work. Before we were able to change as much as we are able to change now, we would follow our work geographically. So, if you were not able to plant some crop in an area, you would go to a different area where you could plant that crop.
We follow our work. It is certainly true in agriculture. I have been in areas, like the California border, where there are large populations who are following the work. Wherever the work may be, they harvest here or there, they plant here or there. They follow their work. That is probably largely the story of your family. Why do you live where you live now? It may well be because you followed a job there.
It is interesting that when you get to the book of Revelation, it is a very otherworldly kind of book with many things that are hard to understand. But it gives you a perspective that is not time bound, or for that matter, earth-bound or man-centric. It is an eternal world. You see the eternal as opposed to the temporary, which we are so used to contemplating. The gospel in Revelation 14:6 is eternal. God, in Revelation 14:7 and following, is eternal. The judgment of God, though it is not something we care to think on, it is something that is forever.
Is work something that is forever? Well, the fact is, Revelation and Genesis actually have quite a bit in common. One thing that you are reminded of when you look at Revelation and Genesis is that toil is sin’s wage but work is a gift of God. Work is service. We are going to be serving the Lord in Heaven for a long time. I don’t think it will be boring. So, toil is sin’s wage, but service is God’s gift.
When you get to Revelation 14:13 you see, not people who follow the work, but people whose work follows them. Verse 13 says, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.” This is amazing! “Blessed are the dead.” When is it a blessing to be dead? No, “blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.” They belong to the Lord Jesus from thenceforth. The verse continues, “Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”
Notice a couple of words here. Notice “blessed,” “rest,” and “follow.” The sum and substance of this for you and me is the work you follow today will follow you into eternity. Maybe you think that what you are doing does not matter. Maybe you think that no one cares about what you are doing. But when you are doing work that has consequences, work that honors the Lord Jesus, then that work will follow you into eternity. I’m not merely talking about your profession, but the work where you help people, give the good news of the gospel, and are investing in people’s lives. That work will follow you into eternity. It will never die.
Since that is true, there are a couple of things I would say as encouragement. One, don’t be short-sighted. I hear testimonies all the time of people in middle or upper age who talk of a person, church, or ministry that changed their life’s trajectory decades ago. They are still going in the right direction today because of some little word or act that maybe no one noticed, has been forgotten by most, but will reverberate into eternity. So, don’t be shortsighted. Don’t think that if you can’t see results right now it doesn’t matter. It does matter.
Second, don’t be distracted. I have a lot of neighbors here on the Bill Rice Ranch who have little kids. Some of them are just babies. One baby is a good-looking, little guy named Jack. When his mom is holding him, Jack is just taking in everything. He looks every which way to see what is going on and absorbs it all. Sometimes if you want to say hi to Jack, you have to get his attention. People do the same thing to me. I may be looking every which direction and my wife will say, “Are you listening to me?” So, don’t be distracted. It is fine to notice all that is going on around you in this world, but don’t lose focus on things which are eternal and that will last forever.
Lastly, don’t be discouraged. That can be so easy. The Bible says, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Reaping good is not just contingent on sowing or planting good; it is contingent on not giving up. The Bible says, “Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
Don’t be shortsighted. Don’t be distracted. Don’t be discouraged. The work you follow today will follow you into eternity.