Minimum Wage ~ Maximum Effort

Is there really such a thing as a "minimum wage?" Of course, legally speaking, there is such a thing but in reality, if I owned a company instead of employees I could just go out and recruit volunteers. The AD could read:
"Great Place to Work needs volunteer staff to do the work"

I'm sure they'd be lined up at the door to "volunteer." OK, maybe not. So, I'm forced to go out and hire a worker or two. The law says I have to pay at least a certain amount (the minimum wage) so I do. What does that say about me as an employer? If I pay my employees the LEAST amount allowable by law, what message do they get from me in terms of how much I value them? What is the minimum I can pay them to get them to do all that I ask? What is the maximum effort I can expect from them for that level of pay?

And that leads me to another problem. Just what is a maximum effort? If you give it your all? If you give 110%? Is that really the maximum effort? Honestly, if you think you've given something a maximum effort and you didn't die from exhaustion in the process, was that really a MAXIMUM effort?

We live in a world ruled by MAXs and MINs, MINs and MAXs. We measure everything, value everything in terms of MINs and MAXs, MAXs and MINs. What is the MAXimum you'll pay for a gallon of gas before you switch to walking to work? What is the MINimum amount of times I need to attend church in order for the church to continue subsidizing my childs education at the parochial school?

Romans 6:23 (NIV) states "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Hmmm. What is the minimum wage of sin? Death...same as the maximum wage...still death. God deals strictly in absolutes...no minimums, no maximums. Sin = Death It doesn't matter how much or how little, there is no minimum amount of sin to earn death, and likewise, there is no maximum. The least and worst sinners both earn DEATH. But...and that is one of those all important "buts" there in verse 23, that wage is already paid. The debt we owe...death...was already paid and so instead of Death, we have life. Not just some life. Not just a minimum standard of living. No not even life to the max...but rather ETERNAL LIFE. Life that never ends (and therefore is absolute life, not a minimum or even a maximum life).

In John 10:10-15 (NIV) Jesus the Messiah says "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep."

Christ Jesus uses those all to familiar worldly terms to help us understand. There is no minimum wage that can convince a hired hand to give a truly maximum effort (his life). Only Jesus was capable, but His kingdom is one of absolutes. We are saved, redeemed, and in Christ Jesus, we have ETERNAL LIFE. Maybe it's time we started living in those absolute terms. Not in terms of what is the minimum or maximum, but in terms of we have life and have it to the full, forever and ever, Amen!