Labors of Love, a devotional thought

There's a line in Thessalonians that's worth mulling over a bit. Paul's talking about the ministry of the Thessalonian church and he says, "We continually remember before God (in prayer) your work, produced by faith, your labor prompted by love and your endurance, inspired by hope." Here we see two triads brought together in a fascinating way. One the one hand there is the three Christian virtues, of 1 Corinthians 13 fame: faith, hope and love. No surprise to see them showing up together; they always go together. But look what they're matched with: work, labor and endurance. It creates a fascinating progression: our faith in Jesus sets us to working for him; because we love Jesus (and his world) we work hard for him (work becomes labor); and when we're tempted to quit, our hope-that we will one day give our account and receive our reward in him-inspires endurance. It makes more sense when you lay it out vertically:

Faith ---> Work
                     \/
Love ---> Labor
                     \/
Hope --> Endurance

Where ever you're at on the journey today-- maybe you've been laboring because you love him and you need some hope to help you endure... or maybe you've just started out in faith, and he's calling you to make your work into a labor of love-- where ever you are, though, may his grace give you the faith, love and hope you need to endure in what you're doing for him.