Word for Today, Fri, 14 Nov 2003: Your Work Matters To God
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
Several years ago, I read a book entitled, "Your Work Matters To
God". I'm not sure I completely finished reading the entire
book, but I did get the point. No matter what we do, no matter
where we are, God wants us to live lives that are pleasing to
Him, encouraging to others, honest, wholesome, bringing honor to
Him.
To be honest with you, I need to think about that often and renew
my mind with this truth. At the moment, I'm working in a job
that I don't particularly enjoy. I do enjoy interacting with
people, so I try to focus on how I can best assist and encourage
anyone I see, including the people I work with. There's much
more to it than that. Let's explore. I'll mention a few things,
then share the message from the Desktop Devotions ministry.
In the message below, Pat goes through a useful exercise,
considering choosing between work and other priorities in her
life. I think we all need to do that from time to time. For me,
that's practically a constant thing. I need to balance the need
for work, yet find something that complements the needs of my
family, (including time and energy), our financial needs, and
even my own personal interests. Though I don't often "feel" this
way, I have to make the difficult choice of putting my own
personal interests below the other factors I just mentioned.
Ultimately, I need to consider others before myself. I also have
to remind myself that no matter what I do, it is right to do it
as if I were working directly for my Lord Jesus Christ, for He is
the One who has made all things possible.
Yours in Christ,
Brian
_____________________________
Desktop Devotions - Ministry
E.M. Houtz
My friend Pat has been a nurse for many years. She
works for an agency that provides care for people who have
terminal illnesses, whose life expectancy is less than six
months. A gentle and warmhearted woman, as well as a skilled
nurse, Pat is well-equipped for the very special kind of work she
does.
One day Pat was telling me that she was having a
difficult time making a choice between her job and some other
factors in her life. Once of the options she felt forced to
consider was quitting her job, or changing to another kind of
work. "But if I stop doing this," she said, "who will take care
of these dying people?"
Pat has a clear sense of the importance of the work she
does. She knows that caring for sick, dying people is not
something everyone is willing or able to do. She knows she is
needed.
Not every job is as clearly valuable and as inherently
rewarding as Pat's. Many people in the working world have a
hard time seeing the value of what they do. They know they
receive their paychecks in return for their work; at the same
time, though, they hope for some sense of satisfaction, some
knowledge that all of their time and effort amounts to more than
just a dollar figure, however needed that may be. They want
their work to be a contribution - a part, however small, of
something meaningful.
The Bible assures us that the work we do as Christians -
no matter what it is - is meaningful. The Bible begins with an
act of working. The book of Genesis tells us God created the
world. He worked to bring it into being. He created it with
love and purpose, giving us a model for our own work.
Each of us as a working person creates something each
day. Whether we type a letter, draft a plan, or make a sale, we
bring something into being that wasn't there before. That
something may be tangible, like an article for a newspaper, or a
customer's bill, or a report we've worked on for weeks. Or it
may be intangible: a new relationship with a co-worker or
customer; a new way of handling invoices; a new action plan,
developed after long hours of meetings with other staff members;
or a series of decisions that will affect many people. Whatever
we create, because our lives are consecrated to God, our work is
consecrated too.
But the product of our work isn't the only important
part. The process of working bears fruit, too. We have an
impact on the lives of other people as we interact with them in
the course of our jobs. We influence those around us by the
quality of the work we do and the way we live our workday
lives. We exercise the skills and talents God has given us. We
have the opportunity to put His commandments and His love into
action in a setting where, for the most part, He is not
recognized or known. We face new situations every day that
challenge our Christian values, our self-control, our
creativity, and our compassion; and out of the challenges we
grow stronger and more mature.
God has called us to be His. Because we are His, our
work is His too. Through our work we have the chance to create
something in His name, and then to say, "It is good."
Desktop Devotions (c) 1989 by E. M. Houtz
Devotional from purposedrivenlife.com.
=====
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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