I love work. Most of the time it keeps me busy and out of trouble. Sometimes it has become an occasion of sin for me, when I focus on money, or pride, or allow work to become more important in my mind than my family. But work is not a bad thing, it is given to us by God and it is inherently good. I’ve been reading a very short book, but one with lots to chew on, Business for the Glory of God, by Wayne Grudem. It breaks down the reasons why employment, productivity, ambition (within guidelines), and the business world in general are actually inherently good things that glorify God. This verse in Colossians is one example-
Slaves, obey your human masters in all things, not only when they are watching you because you want to gain their approval; but do it with a sincere heart because of your reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people. Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what he has kept for his people. For Christ is the real Master you serve.
(Colossians 3:22-24 GNB)
As with so many other things in life, it comes down to motive. Then when I opened e-Sword, this passage from George Morrison’s daily devotional caught my eye -
And at Lystra, by the power of Jesus, Paul healed the cripple. You could tell that the writer (Luke) had been a doctor by the fond minuteness with which he describes the disease. Most writers would just have said that the man was lame. But the physician made a much fuller diagnosis. The man was impotent in both his feet; he had been so from birth; he had never walked. Do you see how all the training we have had can be used in the long run towards glorifying God? Luke never thought of that when he was studying medicine; but the miracle is doubly vivid just because he studied. So every interest we ever had, and every pursuit we were ever zealous over, and every hobby that once fascinated us, no matter how childish or slight it may have been— all these, when we are Christ’s, shall prove of service. It is the vessel full of water that becomes wine.
I have seen lately because of Hurricane Katrina how important the skill sets that people have are to the church. We’re all individual parts of the body, with each part serving a function that may seem unimportant on its own, but in fact is crucial to others. And to think that every interest, every hour of study, is available to glorify God – that glorifying Him is far from restricted to moments of prayer, worship, and bible study, but in fact those moments provide fuel for the other hours of the day when we glorify Him in every other activity we do – is kind of a paradigm shift for me. I know that God is in the details, but this is just another reminder of the amazing and personal God that I serve. I’ve come full circle from my “nothing matters” cynicism of 20 years ago to finally seeing that everything matters – there is no insignificant fact or event to the God who knows the number of hairs on my head and where every sparrow falls. And all of the details in my vessel of water, work as well as every other thing that God has given me in life, are all available to be turned to wine.
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