Chew on This

With the Christmas season approaching, we often think of the few precious days off of work we get to enjoy. It’s nice to get away from our work periodically to spend time with the ones we love and to relax and help our brains focus on non-work things.

But work is an important part of the Christian life. Jesus was raised as a carpenter, and we can be sure that right from when he was a young boy he spent his days doing that work. In fact, until he began his ministry, we can be fairly sure that he fixed doors or built tables and chairs. (I imagine he did a pretty good job, too!)

And once he started his ministry, rarely did he call people to stop doing their jobs. His parables were often about people going about their work, for example, and even the transformed Zacchaeus remained a tax collector.

Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica and encourages them to lead quiet lives which include work.

Too often believers view work as something quite separate than the rest of their lives. Not in the sense that people are Christians only one day a week, but rather believers have the idea that work is a curse from the secular world that they tolerate only to be able to tithe their income and witness to their coworkers.

Instead, work can be a fulfilling place to be. The job we do can be the culmination of our skills and interests, which are all gifts from God. The job we do can be a vehicle to help us do good in the world, like tithing and witnessing, but also to simply bring joy to other people’s lives by being gracious and considerate.

Most importantly, the job we do can be a place where God can meet us. It doesn’t just happen in church! Our work is a form of worship (if we let it be that way). And when we remember that our work is worship, it changes our attitude, the quality of our work, and the outcome of what we do. And when our work is worship, God can meet us there!

Where did God meet others at their work? A troupe of wise men and astronomers from the East noticed a star and traveled to Bethlehem… because God met them at their work. And a group of grubby shepherds searched excitedly for a barn with a baby in it because God met them at their work. The list goes on and on but the question is: Will you meet Him there?

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