Ever think about how you can put God first in your 9-5 job? We're continuing our First Things First series this week by learning how we can view our Work As Worship. A lot of people simply see their work as a paycheck. But, wherever you work, whatever you do - teacher, business person, artist, or waitress - your work matters to God!
While many people think work was part of the original curse of Adam & Eve, Genesis 1-2 in the Old Testament of the Bible actually shows us that work was given to us by God as a blessing to His children. See, working is one of the original purposes God designed humankind for... and it is one of the main ways we reflect our Father in Heaven. There are actually 4 main characteristics of how work as worship. The first is this:
1) Work As Worship Is Our Calling
In the church we often here the word "calling" thrown around, but do you know what it actually means? Every Christian is CALLED to work... and you find your "calling" when you find the purpose for which God created you and put you on this planet. If you live out your calling, you may feel an almost divine satisfaction in your work. Some may view a calling as being a Pastor or Missionary, the truth is, God has given each of us unique, custom skills to serve him in our jobs. Next, he calls us to carry out our work with a level of excellence.
2) Work As Worship Is Done With Excellence
Your work is ultimately a reflection on God's character... and God's character is EXCELLENT! When we read the Bible, we see God did not just send His Holy Spirit upon Preachers or Prophets to accomplish their divine work. Rather, the people God used throughout the Bible are often ordinary, blue-collar workers or skilled artisans. God chose to use their unique gifts and divine abilities for His glory!
One word of clarification: If you actually hate your job and do not see the significance of it, Genesis 3:17-18 shows us that one of the curses of the Fall when Adam and Eve sinned was that our work would become HARD. Toilsome. Frustrating. In addition to bringing humankind pleasure, work also became a source of pain. But, in these times of pain, we can remember Colossians 3:
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters... It is the Lord Christ you are serving. -Colossians 3:23-24
3) Work As Worship Is Done With Integrity
The 3rd way we can live out work as worship is to work with integrity. You value people over profits. You go above and beyond what the world expects because you are representing a higher Kingdom... God's Kingdom! Now, here is the final quality to incorporate into your work:
4) Work As Worship Makes Blessing Others Its Bottom Line
The reality is, there are so many indispensable jobs and roles that contribute to the way families and society flourish that are not financially rewarded, such as stay-at-home parenting, caring for an aging parent, or even volunteering. Likewise, Jesus poured his life into teaching, loving, and caring for his 12 disciples... and in the end, he literally sacrificed his life for them.
So, how will you treat your work as worship this week? May we do our work with EXCELLENCE... conduct businesses with INTEGRITY... and may BLESSING OTHERS become our bottom line!