I was directed to a dark-complexioned, bespectacled lady who offered me a seat! That was the first sign I got that a miracle was on my way! Next she actually listened as I presented my petition and commiserated with me for the time lost at the bank. She also offered that whenever I need to get figures of such deposits, I should come straight to her office. Then she requested that I exercise a little patience while she attends to an elderly man sitting nearby. Thereafter, she left the assignment on her desk and spent nearly half an hour going through files and cabinets until she located the sheet for my department. (This was before widespread computerisation of records in the public service kicked in here.) Amazed at her courtesy and care, I shared my experience with some other university staff who told me that the lady treated everyone who came to her office the same way, that it wasn’t just that it was my lucky day as I assumed.
That is a lady to emulate! She had a glowing testimony, standing out in the midst of the shabby and hostile treatment other workers meted out to official visitors. But it’s hard to serve like that except we understand that our service, is first to God, before it is to our employers and the individual before us.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” – Colossians 3:23 -24 (ESV)
Daniel the prophet was also an outstanding public servant. Although an exile and eunuch, he worked better than the freeborn in the land of his captivity because he was devoted to God. The Bible records that “the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” – Daniel 6:4 (NIV) No wonder Daniel served in the royal courts of Babylon and Medo-Persia and was the third highest ruler at some point.
When we know that we are working for God, we will be encouraged to not only do what our job demands, we will be motivated to habitually go above and beyond what is expected of us in the discharge of our duties. That smile; that extra effort to help someone get information, meet a deadline; that kind word to calm their nerves; that offer of a snack while they wait; the telephone calls to alert them of something when official communication fails and so on, make a lot of difference.
And if more of us adopt the practice of going above and beyond, we will overthrow the disgraceful norms in the public service and extinguish the prevailing sense of dread people have of dealing with us as public servants.
That is a lady to emulate! She had a glowing testimony, standing out in the midst of the shabby and hostile treatment other workers meted out to official visitors. But it’s hard to serve like that except we understand that our service, is first to God, before it is to our employers and the individual before us.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” – Colossians 3:23 -24 (ESV)
Daniel the prophet was also an outstanding public servant. Although an exile and eunuch, he worked better than the freeborn in the land of his captivity because he was devoted to God. The Bible records that “the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” – Daniel 6:4 (NIV) No wonder Daniel served in the royal courts of Babylon and Medo-Persia and was the third highest ruler at some point.
When we know that we are working for God, we will be encouraged to not only do what our job demands, we will be motivated to habitually go above and beyond what is expected of us in the discharge of our duties. That smile; that extra effort to help someone get information, meet a deadline; that kind word to calm their nerves; that offer of a snack while they wait; the telephone calls to alert them of something when official communication fails and so on, make a lot of difference.
And if more of us adopt the practice of going above and beyond, we will overthrow the disgraceful norms in the public service and extinguish the prevailing sense of dread people have of dealing with us as public servants.
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