“How are you?” It’s a common question, one I commonly answer with, “Busy.” Most people today are busy, which means we are engaged simultaneously in a variety of things and endeavors, sometimes beyond our ability to juggle and our capacity to sustain. We are busy by our own choice. But are we working?
www.sxc.hu/photo/1407133
“What is work the result of?” When asked, many people might say sin. But work is the result of creation (Genesis 2:15). Creation was God’s work (Genesis 1:31) and God delighted to work and delighted in His work. The futility of work is the result of sin, but Jesus turns that futility into fruitful labor. The difference between our busyness and God’s work is in the word “vocation”.
WORK FOR
Vocation means “to call”. When you are called by someone to do something for someone, you enter into a vocation. In today’s society, though, we have a job. And a job is most often what I do for myself, what I use to seek self-fulfillment, what I leverage to advance myself. But a vocation is not only something I do for myself, it is something I choose to do for another, to bring them good and to advance them for their good. When we begin to perceive our job as a vocation, we begin to get a glimpse into the heart of God, who worked for us in creation, continues to work for us by providing for us, and most supremely came to serve us in His Son Jesus, to work His salvation for us.
We read in Ruth 2:2 that Ruth took it upon herself to go and work for her mother-in-law, Naomi. Ruth had returned from her homeland and left her own family in order to devote herself to Naomi and to take care of her. This is the heart of every vocation -- to work for another. A vocation is an invitation and a calling to join and participate with God in serving others. Paul knew this desire well (Phil 1:22-25). On the one hand, he desired to go to heaven and to be with Jesus. This was better for him! But on the other hand, he desired to stay on earth and to be with people. This was better for others! It was fruitful labor worth pursuing.
Having this perspective can change the way we approach career choices and job transitions, i.e., how and why we do what we do. For example, when faced with two vocational decisions, one being a larger amount of money but a smaller opportunity to do good for others, and the other being a smaller amount of money but a larger opportunity for doing good, which one do you choose? According to our abilities and opportunities, where can we be of greatest use for the greatest good of others? Ruth went to the field. Where do you go? Where should you go? What do you do?
Colossians 3:17 says “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” “Whatever” leaves room for, well, whatever! This means there may be a vocation that is overtly religious, like pastoring, and there may be one that is not overtly religious, like a plumber. Is the pastor in a better position before God than the plumber? Is the pastor’s work more valuable than the plumber’s? No! Whatever you do, do it for Jesus! This also means that our work doesn’t need to have religious buzzwords stuck on it, or even associated with it, in order for it to be pleasing to God. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) Therefore, whatever you do, do it all FOR the good of others.
WORK HARD
Ruth not only worked for Naomi, she worked HARD for her. To begin, Ruth approached her work with humility. She was of the poorest of the poor, and so came to Boaz’s field not demanding but asking. “She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers’” (Ruth 2:7). Please? There isn’t a hint of entitlement in her request. Humility is the root attitude of good character and fruitful labor. Jesus was humble. He knew His position under the Father and was submitted, never doing anything beyond what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19). Jesus, though, was also confident. He knew the Father was pleased with Him and that He had His full support (Matthew 3:17). Ruth knew her position, and so approached confidently.
She receives favor, and when Boaz comes on to the scene, the report is that Ruth has been working hard since the moment she arrived (Ruth 2:7). Here is something very important to note: receiving favor shouldn’t mean working less. Ruth took advantage of her opportunity and brought all her energy and skill to the task. After all, she was working for another. The fact that we’ve been given a job, work, or an opportunity should not result in our only doing the required minimum. On the contrary! Another word for favor is “grace”. Receiving grace should mean working harder. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” What is the evidence of God’s grace being received by Paul and Paul being changed by it? Hard work. Yet, Paul says, it was God’s grace supplying the energy. Paul was not willing to be dependent upon anyone for his livelihood, and so worked with his own two hands to make tents (Acts 18:3). Paul exhorts the church in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 to work with their own hands so they would not be dependent on anyone. Why? Because as far as it is possible, this is the proper way for Christians to live before the world: self-starting, self-disciplined, hard-working laborers.
Paul also says that our salvation is hard work (Philippians 2:12-13), not in the sense of our accomplishing it, but in the sense of our living it out. Yet again, he insists that it is God working within us to both desire and work for Him. In other words, diligent physical labor (1 Cor. 15:10) is as much God’s work as our spiritual disciplines are. Diligence is a righteous attribute; laziness is not (Proverbs 21:25-26). Neither is busyness. Diligence understands which vocation God has called us to, what it takes to get the job done and goes to work. Laziness doesn’t take advantage of what opportunities God gives and busyness goes beyond what God gives, neither of which lead truly to contentment or to a tiredness that is free of regret and self-condemnation.
Finally, Ruth worked hard and then rested (Ruth 2:7). But Ruth had already been accepted when she began to work hard. She wasn’t working to earn acceptance. She was working out of her acceptance. So when Ruth needed a rest, she could rest easy. She needn’t worry about being “fired” or rejected. She had already been approved. She was resting out of her approval. Restfulness of heart is a sign of our dependence on and trust in God. As Christians, knowing we have been justified and accepted by God through the work of Christ frees us to work hard for others. And knowing we have been justified and approved by God through the work of Christ frees us to rest when our work is done.
WORK WELL
Ruth finished the job. At the end of the day, she completed the task she had set out to accomplish for Naomi (Ruth 2:17-18). She worked hard, was efficient and successful. She was competent. Not only did she have the skills necessary for the job, she used them to finish well. What we do should be done WELL and well DONE. Competency is a ministry. If I am to do something for my wife, I want to do it as well as I can because it’s FOR her and is an expression of my love. In particular for Christians, when we claim to do all things for the glory of God, it is most evidenced in how we do things for others – in our competency.
Isaiah 28:24-19 shows us that the farmer’s knowledge of the soil, the seasons, and the tools comes from God. Regardless of who passed down the knowledge to the farmer, it ultimately came from God. In Exodus 31:1-5, God tells Moses he has called a man named Bezalel, filled him with His Spirit in order to create incredible artistic designs and to work in all kinds of craftsmanship. God is the one who teaches humanity what to do and how to do it. God is the original designer, inventor and craftsman. He is the one who makes known the brilliant ideas that have advanced society and civilization. We as humanity are often the ones who take God’s wisdom and make it foolish. Still, any advancement for good in the world today is only the result of a God who is good in His common grace toward all. Whatever your vocation, there are ideas you haven’t thought of. God can teach you to do your job better and more efficiently, both for your sake and the sake of others. Your home or workplace could become “explosive” with the creative genius of God. God has never done any job with mediocrity. He is excellent in all His ways!
Furthermore, God has never left anything half done, nor will He ever. Genesis 2:1-2 says that God finished the heavens and the earth, that He finished His work of creation, and rested. Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:6 that “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” In Jesus’ parable on faithfulness he speaks these words: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” On the cross, Jesus, knowing that all that needed to be accomplished for His work of salvation to be complete had been accomplished, said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). And in Revelation 21:2 we read the promise that one day the new heaven and the new earth will come down from out of heaven “prepared” for the bride of Christ, the church. Whatever we do for others, let us work hard and work well from beginning to end.
WORK BEYOND WORK
After Jesus died, rose and ascended back to heaven, many of His disciples went back to their jobs. Do you think they approached their work the same way they did before Jesus came onto the scene and into their lives? Certainly not! Jesus forever changed His disciples’ relationship to their work. Now their fishing went beyond fishing. Their carpentry went beyond carpentry. Paul’s tent-making went beyond his tent-making. Their work went beyond their work, and so should ours. Whether you’re a stay-at-home-mom, a banker, a janitor, a teacher, a CEO, etc., your work goes beyond your work. One day, all our work done in the name of Jesus will be rewarded. Whether our vocation is esteemed or despised; whether we’re succeeding or failing; whether we’ve gained it all or lost it all; whether we think life can’t get better or life can’t get worse; in the end, at the end, all our hard and skillful labor will be finished and completed in a way we never could have imagined. And then we’ll receive it as a gift of His grace, and worship forever Him to whom, through whom, and for whom all things exist (Romans 11:36).
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
Recent Comments