Verse: Proverbs 6:6-8
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander,
no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.
Thoughts
Sometimes I think it is easy to compartmentalize our lives and separate our work from the rest of our lives. Whether it's house work, school work, or work-work, it's easy to feel that work is just work - it's just something we have to do.
But the Christian worldview would teach something different. Doing work, being creative, working hard, using our gifts are all God's gifts to us. In Genesis 2 it tells us that "the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it."
We know of God that he does work as well. Genesis 2 tell us that he rested from "all the work of creating" and Jesus tells us in John 5:17 that "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working."
Doing work with the gifts, abilities, and energy that God had given us is part of being who God has created us to be. Work is part of living in the image of God. There is something satisfying and liberating when we do the things God has called us to do in the world. When we work, we connect to who God is and who he made us to be.
No matter where you find yourself in your stage of life—whether you are in school, have a job, are a homemaker, or a parent—the work you find yourself doing you can do unto and with the Lord. Even work we don't particularly enjoy, we can do "unto the Lord." Doing work for the glory of God brings meaning even to the most meaningless work. So today, not mater what you are doing, think about inviting God into it. What would it look like to work with all your heart, in any situation, because it's not about you—it's about God?
Prayer
I want to glorify you with my everything—and that includes my work. Teach me to walk in your ways at school, at work, and at home.