Kingdom Comeনমুনা

PRAYER:

God, you created me with a purpose. Help me to live with that purpose in mind. Open my eyes to ways I can love others well and point them to you.

READING: 

God has created us on purpose—for a purpose. Believe it or not, he has already prepared ways you can demonstrate and share the love of God with others. (And in case you’re wondering, he knows where you work!)

Many Jesus followers live highly compartmentalized lives, particularly when it comes to their work life and their faith. But what if your work is one of the primary ways God wants to grow your faith? 

Did you know that the average person will spend about 90,000 hours—roughly one-third of their adulthood—at work? If our faith doesn’t speak into our work lives, then it has nothing to say about what we do with a huge portion of our time. God cares greatly about our work and how we as Jesus followers approach our work. 

Churches haven’t always done a great job with helping people discover greater meaning and purpose in their work. In fact, some sermons leave you with the impression that the only way to serve God is to leave your job and work at a church. But this could not be further from the truth. 

Church reformer Martin Luther wrote, “The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.”

Dorothy Sayers, an activist and author, expressed a similar sentiment when she wrote, “The church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him to not be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours and to come to church on Sundays. What the church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables.”

The truth is, just about every type of work contributes in some way to the overall good of others. As such, our work is one of the ways God extends his love and care to his creation. To serve God with your work, you don’t have to quit your job and go work at a church—you can serve God at work with a simple shift in your perspective. Maybe you need to view your work through the lens of the positive impact it has on others. Perhaps you need to renew your commitment to doing quality work with integrity. Or maybe you simply need to realize that God has put you where you are for a reason and has “prepared good works” for you to do right where you happen to spend 40 hours each week.

REFLECTION:

Here are a few questions to ask as you reflect on how your life and work intersect:

• In what ways does your work serve others?

• What would it look like to focus more on serving others through your work?

• How can you influence the culture of your workplace in a more positive way?

Spend some time journaling your answers. They might seem like easy enough questions, but don’t rush through them. Invite God into the conversation by praying as you write down your thoughts. Ask the Holy Spirit to make you more aware of his presence and leading during your work hours. Consider making it a daily practice to ask God, “Who would you like me to show your love to today?” Then be ready to respond to his leading.