The Joy of the Job?

Once again we have the opportunity to set aside a day to honor the "laborer." However, with so many people who seem to express a disdain for their work, is it really possible to speak of our job bringing us joy?

I think it is if we keep at least two things in mind. First, we need to be sure that what we are doing is where God has called us to be. And, second, we need to avoid the error of separating our lives into two distinct areas - the sacred and the secular.

What is it that really motivates you? What is it that you just love to do? What is your passion in life? After you have answered these questions, ask yourself this - "Am I doing what I love each day?" God has called you to Himself and then called and gifted you to have a unique vocation that glorifies Him. If you are not doing your passion, you might want to consider a change.

Do you love to teach, but have gotten into some administrative job you hate? Do you have a passion for research that honors Christ, but find it hard to find the time due to all the committee work? Do you really enjoy giving direction to large projects, or is it spending time one-on-one in a mentoring relationship, or could it be working on details so that the entire team benefits? Joy on the job comes when we are doing that which we were created to do.

The second perspective is just as important. We need to avoid the trap of separating the "spiritual" from the "secular" callings we have. Often it becomes easy to picture our "spiritual lives" as that which we do at home and at church, and our "secular lives" as that which we must trudge through to make a living.

But God has ordained all honorable labor as His gift to us, and a central arena of our lives to bring glory to Him. That makes the "secular" part just as "spiritual" as the "spiritual" part. In their book, "Your Work Matters to God," Sherman and Hendricks say, "[We often have a] view of work that distinguishes between work that matters to God (work that deals with the soul, with the eternal and sacred things, essentially the work of "ministry") and work that has little if any value to God (secular, everyday work)."

A.W. Tozer, in his classic, The Pursuit of God, describes it this way, "One of the greatest hindrances to the Christian's internal peace is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas - the sacred and the secular. But this state of affairs is wholly unnecessary. ... The sacred-secular antithesis has no foundation in the New Testament."

Want a good resource on God's calling in our lives? Read Os Guinness' book entitled, The Call. For an interview with Os Guinness about his book, check out our Leaderu.com article at: www.leaderu.com/marshill/mhr08/os1.html.

Scripture: Colossians 3:17 - "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."

Action Point: Seek God on how He has called and gifted you to uniquely minister to others.

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