Daily Devotionals

'Every Day Light' with Selwyn Hughes

Devotional: July 25th

For Reading and Meditation:
     Ruth 2:4

The reception which Boaz receives from his workers when he arrives in his field shows that his relationship with them was far removed, generally speaking, from today's management-labor relations. Boaz greets his workers with the words "The Lord be with you!," and the workers reply: "The Lord bless you!" Can you imagine that exchange of greeting taking place on shop floors or in offices today? Yet when godliness prevails in a nation, one of the first things to be affected is management-labor relations. During the 1904 revival in Wales, many officials in the coal mines met with the miners to pray together before the day's work began. An old Welsh miner told me: "Dead on the stroke of 6 am, the manager would appear followed by other officials of the mine, and greet us with the word 'Bendegedig' [Welsh for 'wonderful']." The assembled miners would then respond with "Hallelujah," or something similar. What a way to begin a day! The secret of good employer-employee relations is for management to be caring, fair minded and honest, and workers to put in a good day's work. And where there is a Christian commitment on both sides then it adds great weight to the qualities I have mentioned. A leading industrialist in Pusan, Korea, told me during my visit there that before he found Christ the relationships between himself and his workers were in turmoil. After he found Christ, he saw his employees in a new light. "I worked out ways of how I could bless them," he said, 'and they in turn worked out ways by which they could bless me." This kind of approach never fails.

Father, lay Your healing hand on the turmoil that is in so much of the relations between employers and employees. Show everyone concerned that exhibiting fairness, honesty, and concern for the welfare of others is in accordance with the way the world was designed to run. Amen.