"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God; And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." - Colossians 3:22-4:1

I'll not take the time here to debate whether or not the Bible condones slavery. Any good Bible student knows that the Lord is against the system of slavery (1st Timothy 1:10). The practice of working as a bondservant was common at that time in order to pay off certain debts. Therefore, Paul teaches how the relationship should work.

The equivalent relationship we have today is between boss and employee. God reminds both parties that they should view the relationship as they would a relationship with God.

As employees, we should work as hard as we would if God was our boss, because He is. We should not do things well only when we are being watched. We should have integrity to do the best job we can even if no one is watching. We don't do this simply for the paycheck. If we only work for money, it will never feel like we are getting paid enough. We do this because we already have an inheritance given to us. Jesus Christ did the work necessary for us to live with God. Therefore, we need to work on our jobs with thankfulness as we look forward to the day no one will ever have to work in this old world again!

Oh, buy the way, if you don't work hard, you and your family might go hungry. Just because you are one of God's children does not mean you should not work to provide. (See verse 25)

If we find ourselves in the position of the boss, we have the huge responsibility of trying to rule like God does. It can only be through guidance found in prayer that we could ever wisely and justly rule other people. Just like the husband/father in the house, the boss should look like Christ in the workplace. If he does, the employees will love to work hard for him. If he does not look like Christ, he will answer to his boss.