Dear SCC & Friends,
…What is your occupation?… ~Jonah 1:8
Reflection #219
It’s not uncommon when you meet someone to hear them ask, “What do you do or what kind of work are you in?” People tend to assess and define one another based on their occupation. It seems that throughout life we are either preparing for a job (training and school), in a job (gainfully employed) or looking to find work (unemployed). The call to work was established before sin entered the world. Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. ~Gen. 2:15 We were made to work but are to be aware that our jobs, careers and even ministry are not the basis of our significance. It’s very possible that what we do, who we know and what we’ve accomplished define our worth and value rather than who we are in Christ… For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ~Eph. 2:10 You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. ~St. Augustine~~Selah~
Martin Luther called vocation “the mask of God”… that God hides Himself in the everyday workplace in what seems mundane and of little spiritual value. I remember complaining to a friend that I didn’t like my sales manager job because it was taking my time and energy away from more spiritual pursuits. His response surprised me… “I envy your situation and what you’ve been doing (I was in direct sales) as you are engaging people in real time and actual life situations. You’ve been given access to hands-on discipling affecting their work ethic, personal integrity and faith.” My circumstances didn’t change that day, but my outlook did…. What I viewed as an unwanted obstacle was actually a unique opportunity given by God. What’s your occupation? What’s your line of work? It’s far more spiritual than we think…. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. ~Col 3:23-24 Keep up the good work!
Made for these days,
Kevin