Jesus, Lord of my work (Study 54)
Work pre-existed the Fall (Gen 2:15), and therefore is a good, God-given thing. Our mandate is to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion...over every living thing (Gen 1:28). Work then, involves creative activity within God's creation. But part of the effect of the Fall on man was the cursing of the ground so that the earth would resist man's efforts (Gen 3:17-19), leading to drudgery and unrewarding effort. Our work then, like all of creation is cursed, and yet Christ's redeeming work has reversed and is continuing to reverse the effect of the curse on our work.
We can find purpose in work, so that it becomes a vocation ("calling"), where we know that God has a purpose in our being where we are for that season in our lives. Work is to be done to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31), and we glorify God through our character and good works (Mt 5:16), as well as through the excellence of our endeavor (Pr 22:29). We can witness to our colleagues. We must work sincerely, with all our heart, fearing God and looking to please Him rather than men. The promise to all of us is that we will receive our ultimate reward for such good work from the Lord, not from our employers. And we have the dignity and honour of serving "The Lord Christ" (Col 3:24).
Work must not be in a morally suspect occupation that takes from others. We should be doing an honest day's labour (Eph 4:29) in order to provide for ourselves as well as for others.
We saw in Jn 21 how Christ 1) shows Himself to be Lord in breaking into the routine work of the disciples with holy power, 2) shows Himself to be Lord of their productivity (in their catching first, nothing, then catching a whole lot of fish). Ps 78:70-72 tells us that David first shepherded sheep, then people, moving from a lesser to a greater role because he had been found faithful in the lesser role. On the other hand, Amos 7:14-15 shows that God can do the converse, and call a man without a hereditary office or prior experience into a different role.
We also spent time talking about the role of enjoyment in our work. There is no work that has unmitigated pleasure, since that is excluded by the Fall. Pleasure in work is a gift (Ec 2:24), but it is not a given. And so there should be other reasons why we continue to work in a particular position. We change jobs (and cars, and churches, and girlfriends) for various reasons, all to be subject to the whole counsel of God in Scripture, not on the basis of enjoyment alone. A sense of purpose in knowing our vocation is important in job satisfaction, but not everyone will have certainty of this vocation. It is enough to know that we are in the right place at a particular time.
We can find purpose in work, so that it becomes a vocation ("calling"), where we know that God has a purpose in our being where we are for that season in our lives. Work is to be done to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31), and we glorify God through our character and good works (Mt 5:16), as well as through the excellence of our endeavor (Pr 22:29). We can witness to our colleagues. We must work sincerely, with all our heart, fearing God and looking to please Him rather than men. The promise to all of us is that we will receive our ultimate reward for such good work from the Lord, not from our employers. And we have the dignity and honour of serving "The Lord Christ" (Col 3:24).
Work must not be in a morally suspect occupation that takes from others. We should be doing an honest day's labour (Eph 4:29) in order to provide for ourselves as well as for others.
We saw in Jn 21 how Christ 1) shows Himself to be Lord in breaking into the routine work of the disciples with holy power, 2) shows Himself to be Lord of their productivity (in their catching first, nothing, then catching a whole lot of fish). Ps 78:70-72 tells us that David first shepherded sheep, then people, moving from a lesser to a greater role because he had been found faithful in the lesser role. On the other hand, Amos 7:14-15 shows that God can do the converse, and call a man without a hereditary office or prior experience into a different role.
We also spent time talking about the role of enjoyment in our work. There is no work that has unmitigated pleasure, since that is excluded by the Fall. Pleasure in work is a gift (Ec 2:24), but it is not a given. And so there should be other reasons why we continue to work in a particular position. We change jobs (and cars, and churches, and girlfriends) for various reasons, all to be subject to the whole counsel of God in Scripture, not on the basis of enjoyment alone. A sense of purpose in knowing our vocation is important in job satisfaction, but not everyone will have certainty of this vocation. It is enough to know that we are in the right place at a particular time.
Comments
Post a Comment