The Best: Part 2Sample

Prayer: Father, thank you for the way you graciously include me in your ultimate work! The opportunity to make my life count for eternity is one I do not want to take for granted. I recognize that my design and my days are gifts from your loving hands, so keep me on your path according to your purpose!

Created to Create

It is easy to forget that God’s Word opens with a classic work week! God revealed himself from the beginning as a creator who loves to create. In his book, Every Good Endeavor, Tim Keller puts it this way: “Work was not a necessary evil that came into the picture later, or something human beings were created to do but that was beneath the great God Himself. No, God worked for the sheer joy of it. Work could not have had a more exalted inauguration.” The Lord modeled for his creation what it meant to work with perfect purpose and excellence!

As people made in God’s image, we have an opportunity to find incredible joy and satisfaction in work, just as God Himself did. This is a crucial concept for us to grasp, because it shifts our daily motivations and leads us to see the truth of Tom Nelson’s statement that “we work because we bear the image of One who works.” We no longer have to view our regular responsibilities as random or worthless, but can instead see our work as a means to the end of glorifying the Lord in all we do! 

Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. How would my work change this week if I truly see it as a daily act of worship to God?
2. What do other people learn about God based on my actions and attitudes in my work or studies? What do I want people to learn about God from how I work?

What’s Next?

1. Identify a responsibility you have coming up where it will be easy for you to become frustrated or hopeless. Pray every day this week for God to keep your mind set on His greater purpose of proclaiming the Gospel even in difficult work.
2. Ask a friend to hold you accountable to trust in God’s ability to use that situation for His glory. Give your friend a few questions to ask you at the end of the week regarding the state of your heart in that difficulty.