"Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." (Psalms 127:1 NIV).

The Scriptures remind us that we must be both disciplined and dependent in God's work. The psalmist envisions God's people at work building His house and the watchmen actively watching over His concerns. He is also seeing that it is ultimately God who is doing the building and the watching. The builders and watchmen therefore need to be dependent upon Him or their work will be in vain. But the building will not be built if the builders put down their tools and resign from their jobs as if God will do it for them. The watchmen cannot leave their posts presuming that God will automatically protect them from the enemy's attack. He wants to be with them in the building and the watching.

God has appointed tasks for each of His workers. Paul writes that he and Apollos are not in competition with each other or were ultimately responsible for the growth of the New Testament churches. "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers." (1Corinthians 3:5-9a).

The Christian will experience intense labor in the work of God. He or she will also experience God's grace, the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, working with them. Paul says, "So naturally, we proclaim Christ! We warn everyone we meet, and teach every one we can, all that we know about Him, so that, if possible, we may bring every man up to his full maturity in Christ Jesus. This is what I am working at all the time, with all the strength that God gives me." (Colossians 1:28-29 - J.B. Phillips). The Greek verb for 'work' here is one that means to toil to the point of weariness and exhaustion. The Apostle Paul speaks of agonizing and bending every effort in the direction of doing the work, knowing that God will supply the necessary strength.

The work of the kingdom, Jesus said, is similar to that of the work of a farmer sowing seed. The farmer is responsible for plowing the field, fertilizing the soil, planting the seed, irrigating the water, nurturing the growth and harvesting the fruit. He does this dependent on the fact that he himself cannot control the weather, nor can he give the plant life and make it grow. He cooperates with God's grace and shares in the reward of a harvest. He practices God-given disciplines that enable him to be God's fellow-worker in the field.

This analogy holds true for us also. God has given us disciplines as well as desires that enable us to participate in His work. In all of this we must work in dependence upon the government and enabling power of the Holy Spirit.