In the last post I addressed two distractions that lead people away from their God-given callings: the desire for more money and a more prestigious job.
Both of these distractions lead to a lack of contentment at work.
In the last post I suggested a paradigm shift as a response to discontentment created by these two distractions.
The Scripture I cited, in addition to suggesting a change in thought, command action.
The Apostle Paul wrote the Colossians, “Do your work with all your heart, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.” (Col. 3:23).
A milleniam before Solomon wrote, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might . . .” (Eccl. 9:10).
“Do your work . . . ” and “Whatever your hand finds to do . . .” are commands that make no distinction with regard to the type of work one does. In other words, no work is too insignificant or unimportant to be done with all one’s heart. Also, there is nothing in either verse that suggests the necessity of loving one’s work as a precondition to working hard. It’s not that loving one’s job is unimportant; it’s that love is a result, not the cause, of hard work.
It’s similar to marriage. The Lord commands Christians to love their spouse. The love that is commanded is a verb, an action, not an emotion; but the act of loving regenerates the emotion. Action precedes emotion.
It’s the same with one’s work. So many people are discontent in their job because they think their job unimportant or insignificant. They don’t put their heart into what they do, and as a result they never experience fulfillment in their job. If the job is their ultimate calling, they will never know it, and if it isn’t their ultimate calling they are left to only endure until something better comes along.
In the summer between my first and second year of law school, I worked at a golf course cleaning clubs, pulling golf bags out of storage for members, and picking up balls off the driving range. At first I hated it. I thought it menial and unimportant. But not too far into what could have been a very long summer I got it. I began to throw my heart into my minimum wage job and I began to enjoy it.
And you know what, the job was not unimportant. That summer, King Jesus needed someone to clean golf clubs, pull golf bags from storage and clean the driving range so that part of the planet would be properly managed for Him and thus be Kingdom territory. GS