Act Like a Man: 9 Ways to Punch Life in the MouthSample

Worker: Do Your Job

One thing Christians tell people is “give your life to Jesus, and you go to Heaven when you die.” That’s true, but between receiving Jesus and going to Heaven, you have to go to work. God has work for you to do. Your life is meaningful, valuable, and purposeful. You matter. Your job matters, your company matters, your ministry matters, and your family matters. There are some things God could do without you, but He wants to do them through you, and He wants to do them with you.

I’ll give you an example. When I was a little boy, my dad was a union drywaller, hanging sheetrock to feed his family until he broke his back after many years of hard labor. He married my mom, and they had me when they were very young. My dad would sometimes sleep at the job site in his truck, or he’d sleep on the sheetrock stack and send the money home to our family during the lean times.

I’ll never forget that my dad would work five days a week and then would get side jobs on weekends. He would take me to work during some of the side jobs, and I got to see my dad work. I came to really appreciate how hard my dad worked. It made me not want to waste money and to be grateful. It made me want to help around the house and do my part. Did my dad need me on the job site? Do you think a five-year-old kid is really a big help on a construction site? No.

Why did my dad take me to work? So that he and I could build a relationship where he would let me see him work, and I would grow up to be like my dad. God is a Father; He has work for you to do, and sometimes that work is going to work. He could do a lot of things without you, but He wants to do them with you in the same way my father wanted to take me to work with him to build a relationship and teach me to work. Ultimately, working for Jesus makes everything meaningful, valuable, and purposeful.

If you’re a man of God and you have the Holy Spirit in you, you want to be a man, not just a boy who can shave. You want people to be able to count on you and not be constantly dependent on other people to rescue you. You want your wife and kids to be blessed because of your work. There is something deeply satisfying at the soul level when you come home to your wife and kids who are living indoors because of you, wearing clothes because of you, and sitting down to eat dinner together because of you. Those are your wife and kids and, if they have you, they can feel secure that their father/husband is a good man and good at being a man.

Men who provide for their families in this way need to encourage and honor one another. If you’re one of these men, I want to honor, appreciate, and salute you.

What is the current work God has given you? How is it going?