Jesus had a great deal to say about labor. He knew that a laboring man needs rest and recreation. We Americans have Labor Day—a day in which the wheels of industry stop and the entire nation is reminded of the tremendous contribution that labor has made to the American way of life. Jesus Himself was a laboring man. In His biography we are told that He was a carpenter. Wouldn’t you like to have been able to spend a day in Joseph’s little shop and to watch Jesus use the hammer and saw? Sometimes we forget that Jesus was human as well as divine. He had calluses on His hands. If the chisel had slipped and cut His fingers, His blood would have been red and warm like ours. He knew what it meant to work long hours, to come in at night tired and weary.

From Day by Day with Billy Graham, © 1976 BGEA