day 164: Service Awards

Almost all companies give some sort of recognition award for “service” or tenure. At small start-ups it is something special when someone is with the company for a year. As a company grows older we see, 5, 10, 15, 20 year awards. For those who have been around since the beginning we even see companies sometimes put up a plaque or wall of recognition once someone achieves a certain milestone. Service Awards are great things and an entire industry was created coming up with recognition gifts and items for these special occasions. There is the other side of long-tenure and service though. There comes a time when someone has been at a company too long and they get tired or burnt-out and everyone around them knows it is time for them to move on to something else or somewhere else, but it is so hard for them to recognize this need and change in themselves. I have seen too many times where this ends up with the company moving someone out and the person feeling like their life-line has been severed. Then question of the company’s loyalty to people rises up as a topic of conversation and the end of the story doesn’t turn out well. People change. Companies change. We can’t count on either to be the same over time and even though the plaque on the wall has the names of people who have served loyally for so long, we cannot put our faith in either the person or the company to be the same as they were before. There is only one place we can look for a constant and a name on the wall that never changes and that is to our Lord. We see this in Hebrews 13:8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." If there is ever recognition for service to us all, it can be directed at Jesus without fail or worry that He will ever change his love and faithfulness and loyalty to us. As we work for our living, we are faced with many changes of people, strategies, instructions, and roles we are given. When our trust in companies, organizations and people around us let us down, we can know that there is One who will never let us down and we can count on to be the same today and as long as we live.

Reference: Hebrews 13:8 (New Living Testament)