I love my job!
Have you ever heard or have you ever been responsible for saying, “ I LOVE MY JOB .’
Do you like your job? Do you do your job well because your heart belongs to Jesus?
Is your work your worship? Do you have a high view of your work? Have your ever thought of your work an act of worship to the Most High God? Do you look at work as trivial and insignificant? Romans 12:1, Colossians 3:22-24 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, for the Lord and not for man.
A woman walked into a store and was looking for some jeans. She was approached by a young man with a goatee, several visible tattoos , and purple streaks in his hair. She thought “ oh man.” The young man was pleasant, helpful, kind and patient. He brought her several pairs of jeans to try on, hung up all the jeans that she tried on, and did whatever he could to serve her. His behavior indicated that he liked his job and he enjoyed serving others no matter what their opinion was of him. He was not worried about what people perceived or how they saw him -- he did his job with excellence. Do you do your job with excellence?
What are you like when you are working? Do you dump your work on others when you could have done it yourself? Do you complain about everything? Everyone? Do you really see the big picture? Are you negative? Do you make sure that EVERONE knows how much you hate your job? Do you make other people uncomfortable by not doing what is right--acting like you are the boss? Do people avoid you because they don’t want to deal with you?
If you bow your work before Jesus, it is an act of worship. Every detail of our work can be worship -- if we bow it down to the One we love. Doing your job in such a way and to the best of our ability so that He may be glorified. Are we not called to be worshippers first and workers second? Aren’t we supposed to work cheerfully and diligently? Are we not “ employed” by Christ first and then the company that we work for? I Corinthians 4:2 -- Are you being found faithful in your work? God’s standards are different than ours. God plainly says, “that if we are faithful in our work, we will be significant in his sight.” He did not specifically say what types of work -- he said “ faithful in your work.”
Every detail of our work can be as worship -- if we bow it to the One whom we love. Doing each thing we do at work, to the best of our ability so that He may be glorified. Are you saying to God each morning “ Help me to do my work to the best of my ability so that You may be glorified.” It doesn’t matter if you are a stay at home mom, sit at a computer all day, work at McDonalds, work in a nursing home, work as a cashier, an executive, a person who changes oil in a car, day care worker, or a warehouse worker--offer all of your work as an act of worship to the Most High God. This is taking the part of your life “work” and placing it on the altar as an offering to our God because we love Him. To work is to worship and to worship is to work. Wouldn’t it make a big difference at work? Maybe it could be contagious!
Father: you are alone are worthy of all our worship and praise. Sometimes we don’t even think about the things that may bring praise and worship to you. Work does matter to you. How many opportunities have we missed out on by not making our work a sacrifice to you --laying it on the altar. Help us not to feel discouraged before we walk into the door of our work. Help us each day to say-- I want to work from my heart for you God. You are the one I am truly working to please and my lasting reward comes from you. Please help me so that I may do my best to bring praise and honor to you, so that not only may I serve you well, but also the ones that I have been entrusted to work for. Let all that I do worship you.
We ask this in your most precious name. Amen.
From Janice- CR Encourager Coach
Do you like your job? Do you do your job well because your heart belongs to Jesus?
Is your work your worship? Do you have a high view of your work? Have your ever thought of your work an act of worship to the Most High God? Do you look at work as trivial and insignificant? Romans 12:1, Colossians 3:22-24 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, for the Lord and not for man.
A woman walked into a store and was looking for some jeans. She was approached by a young man with a goatee, several visible tattoos , and purple streaks in his hair. She thought “ oh man.” The young man was pleasant, helpful, kind and patient. He brought her several pairs of jeans to try on, hung up all the jeans that she tried on, and did whatever he could to serve her. His behavior indicated that he liked his job and he enjoyed serving others no matter what their opinion was of him. He was not worried about what people perceived or how they saw him -- he did his job with excellence. Do you do your job with excellence?
What are you like when you are working? Do you dump your work on others when you could have done it yourself? Do you complain about everything? Everyone? Do you really see the big picture? Are you negative? Do you make sure that EVERONE knows how much you hate your job? Do you make other people uncomfortable by not doing what is right--acting like you are the boss? Do people avoid you because they don’t want to deal with you?
If you bow your work before Jesus, it is an act of worship. Every detail of our work can be worship -- if we bow it down to the One we love. Doing your job in such a way and to the best of our ability so that He may be glorified. Are we not called to be worshippers first and workers second? Aren’t we supposed to work cheerfully and diligently? Are we not “ employed” by Christ first and then the company that we work for? I Corinthians 4:2 -- Are you being found faithful in your work? God’s standards are different than ours. God plainly says, “that if we are faithful in our work, we will be significant in his sight.” He did not specifically say what types of work -- he said “ faithful in your work.”
Every detail of our work can be as worship -- if we bow it to the One whom we love. Doing each thing we do at work, to the best of our ability so that He may be glorified. Are you saying to God each morning “ Help me to do my work to the best of my ability so that You may be glorified.” It doesn’t matter if you are a stay at home mom, sit at a computer all day, work at McDonalds, work in a nursing home, work as a cashier, an executive, a person who changes oil in a car, day care worker, or a warehouse worker--offer all of your work as an act of worship to the Most High God. This is taking the part of your life “work” and placing it on the altar as an offering to our God because we love Him. To work is to worship and to worship is to work. Wouldn’t it make a big difference at work? Maybe it could be contagious!
Father: you are alone are worthy of all our worship and praise. Sometimes we don’t even think about the things that may bring praise and worship to you. Work does matter to you. How many opportunities have we missed out on by not making our work a sacrifice to you --laying it on the altar. Help us not to feel discouraged before we walk into the door of our work. Help us each day to say-- I want to work from my heart for you God. You are the one I am truly working to please and my lasting reward comes from you. Please help me so that I may do my best to bring praise and honor to you, so that not only may I serve you well, but also the ones that I have been entrusted to work for. Let all that I do worship you.
We ask this in your most precious name. Amen.
From Janice- CR Encourager Coach
Great reminder Janice!
ReplyDeleteThis post on "I Love My Job" reminded me of this prayer I read last night from Richard Foster's book on Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home. "Blessed Savior, I am not good at resting in the hallow of your hand; at work or at play. Nothing in my experience has taught me this resting. I have been taught how to take charge, be in control, and work hard. But how to rest? No, I have no models, no paradigms for resting.
ReplyDeleteJesus when you walked among the crowds in Jerusalme and in the Judean hills, you were always alert and alive. You lived utterly responsive to the will of the Father. Manifold demands were placed upon you, and still you worked in unhurried peace and power.
Help me to walk in your steps. Teach me to see only what you see, to say only what you say, to doonly what you do. Help me, Lord, to work resting and to pray resting. --Amen
Gail McConnell: In response to the anonymous persn above who said "teach me to see only what you see, to say only what you say, to do only what you do", I say Amen. Jesus Who lives deep inside of me through the Word and through the indwelling Holy Spirit, is teaching me to see, say, and do only what He moves in me to see, say, and do. On my job, which is very demanding as a speech language pathologist serving medically fragile children who are severely impaired in their communication abilities, God gives me patience, longsuffering, compassion, and miraculous ways to serve the children and their families way beyond my own academic skills which I was trained in. He establishes a deep bonding of trusting relationship between me and the children and the families. My job has become a ministry of being a light to families and children. I find myself delighting in the children as they delight in me. They see Jesus in me. I see the trust in them because they know I am more than a speech language pathologist; they know I accept them and value them as people, not as severely impaired children who have communication impairments. I treat them the way Jesus treats me...as precious and valuable creatures of the Creator. Everyday I thank the Lord for the gift of serving Him as disciple and friend.
ReplyDeleteEveryday I thank the Lord for rising up in me and granting me the grace to shine as a light for these children and their families. As for my colleagues on the workplace, there is still
often a gap as not everyone wants to "work in harmony". In the past I would have felt frustrated and bitter or I would have beaten myself up and self-loathed my own person. Today I accept them as they are, pray for them, do what I can, accept what I can't change in them, and lay them at the feet of Jesus in the throne room of grace. When I am in their presence, seeing their arrogant attitude and seeing their countenaces of resistance to my requests of them to work in harmony with me for the children, I simply lose myself in Jesus and attach myself to Him. I don't detach from the people or circumstances; I attach to Jesus and I move in confident expectation that He will cause them to feel coals of fire concerning their own character flaws. I get it. People know not what they do in their own flawed conditions. The Master is in control. As God's born again child, I am in self-control of my own attitude through the Word and indwelling power of the Holy Spirit Who enables me to be so; He is in control of others and of circumstances. As I practice this, I have joy, peace, and unconditional agape love for people.
It is here that I love my job! I operate under a different authority no matter where I am serving--as a speech language pathologist, as a leader of a Friday night group, as a woman in my family of origin, as a woman in conversation with others who are believers or unbelievers, as a child who sits at the feet of her Lord and Father every morning and every night, as a writer for the Gospel of hope, as a prayer warrior for Saturday night and for CR, as a Nana/grandmother to my granddaughters, as a mother to my daughter, as a friend to the handful of sisters in Christ with whom I have a deep intimate relationship, as a friend and sister to the leaders of Fellowship: Rodney, Chip, Mark. There is only one Head; His name is Jesus. We are all just parts of body serving in different capacities for the Kingdom of God. We are called to respect one another's positions as anointed and appointed by God. Not one of us is more significant than the other when we get that there is only one head. So, this is my security in any position or place the Master sends me at any particular point or season in time: I live for Christ alone for "to truly live is Christ and to die is gain."