1 Corinthians 15:56-58
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Let's look at verse 58.
It starts with "Therefore" meaning because of what was just said.
Because God "gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
For that reason, do these things.
Be steadfast, immovable.
This means to be dutifully faithful to God.
Grounded in His word, the Bible.
Being immovable, in belief in Jesus.
That He is Lord and Savior, the Christ.
Standing wholly in Jesus' righteousness, blamelessness, His goodness.
Doing a lot of work for the Lord.
Are we abounding in the Lord's work?
How much effort are we putting in?
Showing up at church is not enough.
Listening to sermons is not enough.
Believing God exists, that Jesus is Lord, is not enough.
If the word of God does not move us to action, do we believe?
It is an empty faith that does not move us to work for the Lord.
Not selfish action for ourselves, that is work to our benefit.
Action to help others.
To share the gospel.
Showing God's love and salvation.
That is the work of the Lord.
Now sometimes, in this work we will be tempted to believe it is useless.
No one hears.
No one listens.
We don't see any change.
What is the point?
We may feel this way.
We may feel we are failing and having no impact.
Not helping others like we intend to.
And it hurts our heart, because we want to help.
But always know, that our work in the Lord is not in vain.
We may not see it.
No one may ever tell us.
But we can be sure that God's word works.
It will not return to Him void.
This also means the actions we take, brought about by God's word, are not in vain.
Our actions, what we do, are the product of His word.
His encouragement, His love, His kindness and forgiveness.
These things are not in vain.
We just may not see the results.
Or the results may take time.
Paul talked about one of us planting, another waters, and another harvests.
So, we may plant and never see the harvest, but we are still working.
We still have that impact.
We do not work in vain.