September 25, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, September 25.
How many hours did you work at your job last week? Maybe you're retired and your time is your own. But for you that are still part of the workforce - did you work 20 hours, 40, 60, more? On this day, in 1926, Henry Ford made a revolutionary decision. He limited all of his factory workers to five eight-hour days, a 40-hour work week.
Doesn't seem very revolutionary? Well, for that time, it was. Just a few decades before, in the late 1800's, factory workers would toil 12-15 hours a day, six days a week, sometimes totaling up to 100 hours! By 1940, the 40-hour week was U.S. law, but Ford was the first to pioneer it. Why did he do it? Ford wasn't particularly known as a humanitarian. He was a "bottom line" kind of guy. And he came to understand that more hours did not necessarily mean more production. And, as workers fatigue increased, workplace accidents and mistakes increased as well.
Ford, a businessman, realized that a rested employee was an effective employee. I'm not sure what his level of Bible knowledge was, but if he had read Mark 6:31, he would have found that none other than Jesus Christ supported his theory. Jesus spoke these words to His disciples as they returned from "two by two" ministry journeys.
"Come away and rest awhile, for many are coming and going, and they have no time for leisure..."
Good advice!
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
