Does God Care About My Work?Sýnishorn

Why God (Really) Cares About Your Work

The Apostle Paul was a first-century manual labourer making goatskin tents. He was also known for planting churches, and he wrote to the folks in one of these churches, ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.’ (Colossians 3:23) That means, whatever your whatever is, and whoever your human masters are, you get to work ‘with all your heart, as working for the Lord.’

Realistically, while we say we believe this, it’s not often the secretary is as valued as the CEO or the church caretaker as valued as the pastor. Perhaps you feel your profession or volunteer role is taken less seriously than someone else’s, which likely impacts your work. But Paul isn’t talking exclusively about church ministry or any other job regarded in the Christian subculture as somehow superior. He’s talking about all forms of work, paid and unpaid. Many of his readers were slaves.

The promised inheritance Paul talks about would’ve been a revolutionary concept to these slaves. An inheritance was promised to children, not slaves. Newsflash: children of their Heavenly Father is what they were. It’s what we are, too. The fact that God promises us an inheritance when we do what we do for Him is further evidence that He really cares about our work. More than that, He really cares about us.

It’s also likely the slaves Paul addressed worked in less than idyllic conditions. They’re told to work, not just wholeheartedly, but as if they’re working for God. It’s so much easier to work for someone you love, right? You want to do your best to please and honour them, so it’s a privilege and delight that we get to work for a gracious Father, not a hard taskmaster.

God would hardly ask us to do whatever we do with ‘all our heart’ unless it was of genuine significance to Him, regardless of how significant it seems to us. If you’ve been half-hearted in some aspect of your work, consider your next step towards wholehearted effort. It helps to remember work isn’t the malicious invention of a sadistic god. It was part of God’s original, good plan, given to humankind before we rebelled against Him (Genesis 2:25, 3:19). So, pick something on your to-do list. Pray, Lord, I commit this task to You. No matter how boring or menial the task, you get to do it as worship by the Holy Spirit’s power in you.

God cares deeply about your work because He cares deeply about you (and again, church activities aren’t holier than the ins and outs of your secular day job). God thought of you before the foundation of the earth. He took months to knit you together in your mother’s womb with unblinking intent. It stands to reason He’s interested in what you do with who He’s made you to be. May you surrender to Him your talents, opportunities, and resources, however small or insignificant they may seem. May you begin to do your work as worship, and with great joy, and may the LORD our God establish the work of your hands (Psalm 90:17).