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Work

 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, (Colossians 3:23)

            When you get to your job interview, it turns out that your employer is God. He doesn’t need to ask you those silly questions, because He already knows you. Feel free to speculate about what sort of work He might call you to do, but that’s not the focus here. What would He tell you the requirements and responsibilities of the job are? What would it mean for you to do the job with all your heart? What would it look for if you worked for the Lord?

            Often, we seem to think that we’re only “hired” by God if God gives us some major ministry. Pastors, priests, and prophets are hired by God. Christian entertainers, evangelists, and educators are hired by God. Store clerks, gardeners, cooks, parents, custodians… they are not hired by God. Today’s passage says that whatever your job, to do it as though God were the one who hired you, the one who evaluates your performance, and the one who signs your paycheck.

            We might think of this as meaning that we have to work very hard and be perfectly moral in our dealings. And those are part of what is meant, but let’s take the idea back to its most basic. When you work for someone, you are partnering with them. Your part of the partnership may be tiny, but the whole point of being hired is to be paid to help the employer accomplish whatever it is he’s trying to accomplish. So, today’s passage might be said to suggest that God is the third partner – no matter what the job.

            This also means that when we are struggling or unsure about some part of our job, we must seek our employer’s wisdom and God’s. And once the employer and/or God give that wisdom, we work within it. If we must differ with them, our position should clearly in the best interest of the employer and/or the glory of God. How would that change the way we work?

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