February 4 – Displaying Jesus (Colossians 3:23-25)

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”(Colossians 3:23)

IN WORD:
There is a deeper issue here than working with the right attitude. It is a question of life orientation. Whom do you belong to? Who is sovereign over your circumstances? Who is really in control?
Multitudes of people do not enjoy their jobs. The un-believing would simply rather be doing something else. As believers, we often see our work as an interference in our lives of faith. We would enjoy our lives more without it. We would have time to study God’s Word more if we didn’t have to put in our 40-hour weeks. We would have more time to build important relationships. We easily feel as if we are in the wrong place when we are working at the things we have to do. At the bottom of that feeling is a questioning of God’s sovereignty in our lives. We wonder why He has put us where He has.
God has not placed us where we are simply for the output we can produce, whether it is at a factory, at a desk, at school, or at home with children. He has put us there because that is a context in which He wants to display Himself. Our work is about Him, even if it’s entirely secular in our minds. We are there because God wants to put godliness on display for others to see. He wants to infiltrate the culture we work in.

IN DEED:
Is godliness at work in your preoccupation? If you’re like many people, you may be preoccupied by the unpleasantness of being there. You may feel like your work is pointless, your boss is unfair, or your coworkers are petty. Never mind. None of those things are the point. The point is for the Holy Spirit to dwell in you there, wherever you happen to be. And in that sense, you are working for God, not for the one who signs your paycheck. Whatever you do, have this in mind: You are doing it not just because God wants you to be there, but because He wants to be there too.

“Work without a love relationship spells burnout.”
-Lloyd John. Ogilvie-