All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

-Proverbs 14:23

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Our Forcey Middle School Boys’ Soccer team has been working HARD!

We have practiced about 15 times since August, and many of the drills have not been easy for a group that includes many boys who are new to

the sport. We lost our first two games by a combined score of 15-1. In our third game, we demonstrated outstanding improvement and lost only 2-0 against a team that beat us 8-1 the previous week!  Then, we tied a team. And, finally, on Monday, we won our first game! And we have been growing tremendously in our ability to pass and possess the ball. Biblical principles prove true. “All hard work brings a profit.”

I am so glad for a team that is willing to work hard, especially in a day when there are many ways for kids to avoid or escape hard work. Of course, the scoreboard never tells the whole story, and often hard work does not result in tangible victories. But God is faithful to reward those who work hard for Him!

God says, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). How encouraging to know that our work for the Lord will never be wasted, but will always be profitable in one way or another! And, of course, most of all, how comforting to know that Jesus worked hard for us, even dying for our sins and rising again so that when it comes to our salvation, it’s all about Him! Praise God that we need only to receive what Jesus has done for us in order to have eternal life (John 1:12, John 3:16)!

The work of Jesus on the cross is the most profitable work of all time! May we receive Him and then, compelled by His love, work hard through Him and for Him until He comes!