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When we were kids, none of us dreamed about growing up and getting a job where we could file all day long. We dreamed about having exciting jobs that would take us around the world and bring us fame and fortune. Some of us have a hard time giving up the dream.
Many people look for jobs where they can make the most money, climb the ladder, and get promoted as soon as possible. They want to be recognized, rewarded, celebrated, and honored, and so they keep flopping around until they can find a place that will give them that. Position to position, organization to organization. Dipping their toes into everything, never really giving their all to anything. Always believing that it’s the next thing that will give them the success, status, paycheck, and power they’ve been longing for.
Until they get to middle age, look around, and realize maybe this is the best it’s ever going to get. Then they think their only option is to settle in and do the least amount of work necessary to keep their job until they can finally retire and move to Oregon, Vegas, or the Big Island.
Is that really the kind of life God wants for us?
In Proverbs 10:4 he says, “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.” How many of us are truly diligent in our work? How many of us have a life goal of plugging away at our work — day after day, meeting after meeting, quarterly report after quarterly report, annual goal after annual goal — for the rest of our lives? We assume that the people who do are the ones who spend their lives clawing their way into middle management, just to be forced into early retirement.
But God’s promise is that when we work diligently, we’ll have a rich, fulfilling, rewarding life. Because, as it says a verse earlier, “The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry.” He won’t let us go hungry for the food we need, the money we need, or the success and status we need.
That is, as long as we pursue our work with the same perspective he has:
1. Work is good.
Proverbs 12:14 says, “From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.” Work is a good thing, but many of us have a hard time believing that. For most people, work is a means to an end. It’s what gets us where we want to go. We’ll endure the work, but we won’t always enjoy the work.
Most ancient religions believed that the gods were the same as us. In fact, they believed that the gods created humans so they could force us to do their work for them! They created us so they could kick back and relax. But when you come to the God of the Bible, what do you find him doing on the very first page of Scripture? Working! In the beginning, God created. He worked for six days, and then rested on the seventh.
And he made us in his own image, so one of the major ways we reflect God is that we work like he works. That’s what Adam and Eve were doing in the Garden of Eden. Read Genesis 2, and you see Adam and Eve taking care of the garden. Manual Labor! You see them naming the animal species. Science and research! This is what they were doing in paradise. God’s idea of a perfect world is one where everyone is being productive and working. Work is a blessing.
2. Your work is not just about you.
Proverbs 10:5 says, “He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.” Look at how the relationships are brought out in this proverb. If you’re lazy and sleep through the harvest, you don’t just bring shame to yourself,
you’re a son who brings shame to his family. The impact of your work goes so far beyond you. Obviously your work affects your company and your family, but it also affects your community, and your church. Your work affects the world! Your work is an opportunity to bless the people around you.
I’ve been so stoked to see that happening in our church, from the very beginning. The three families who banded together with us to launch Harbor Church all started their own businesses. Over the years, they’ve used their businesses to provide employment for people at church, tangibly bless the islands, and display the love of Christ. They’ve all provided continual reminders to me that our work isn’t just about us.
3. Your work is God’s calling.
Proverbs 22:29 says, “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” Does this proverb promise that if you’re an excellent landscaper you’ll get to tend the gardens at the White House? No. Not everyone can stand before kings. But we all stand before the king of kings, and you’ll never be obscure before him. You’ll never work hard to climb your way up to middle management, and be forced into early retirement. You’ll be commended for whatever you do, if you’re doing it for him.
As Paul said in Colossians 3, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col 3:23-24). It’s the Lord who gave you the gifts and talents that allow you to work heartily, so it’s only appropriate for you to work for the Lord, whatever you do. Because your reward is better than anything your boss could ever give you.
As Paul says, “You will receive the inheritance as your reward.” And in Paul’s thinking, the inheritance is Jesus himself! He died on the cross to pay for all the times you’ve failed to be diligent in your work, and he rose from the dead to give you a new life. Something new to live for. Something you’ll want to work for! He ascended into heaven, and sent his Holy Spirit to live inside you to equip you and empower you to enjoy your job as you work for others and for the glory of God.