At all times Jesus was engaged in his Father's business. He said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work," and he ever tried to show a toil driven world what the reflection of divine activity meant. He warned us to "labour not for the meat which perisheth," and gave loving invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
To ignore the common duties of life was never part of the Master's teaching, yet one day at the home of Lazarus he gently reproved Martha when he found her "cumbered about much serving." Both Martha and Mary were friends of Jesus, we are told, and many times Martha's faithful service must have rested the Master. But just because Jesus loved Martha and acknowledged her as a type of beautiful service, he saw the need of purifying such service and elevating it to its right place as an activity of divine Mind. He was not belittling her work, but correcting her point of view, which would make of duty a drudgery and bring into loving service a sense of servitude.
It is our attitude toward our work that must change. The artist conceives a picture; but seeing that he must express this picture through a material medium, he must needs labor with his hands to express his message. So it is with the musician, the writer, or any other artist; to give his message to the world through his particular medium involves work. When we have attained perfection, the message will come to us clear and perfect and will be expressed as when God said, "Let there be light: and there was light."
