Tag: Work

How Fasting Can Help You At Work

There are a number of good reasons to fast.

I’ve addressed some of them here.

But there is one you may never of heard of, and it’s found in the Book of Esther.

Esther was the Jewish queen of Ahasuerus, king of Persia, arguably the most powerful man in the world at the time. Many believe Ahasuerus was in fact Xerxes the Great.

If you saw the movie 300, Xerxes the Great was the metro-sexual dude, who was like seven feet tall, and who, bearing much bling, rode in on a platform to the Battle of Thermopylae. Continue reading “How Fasting Can Help You At Work”

On Labor

“My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”

Jesus  (John 5:19)

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.”

The Apostle Paul (Colossians 3:23)

“In all labor there is profit. But mere talk leads only to poverty.”

Solomon (Proverbs 14:23)

 

3 Things I Learned Being Bi

Last year at this time I was completing a year of being bivocational. What did you think I meant by “bi”?

Through an unusual set of circumstances that began with my church losing its pastor, I ended up leading our church for a year until we found a new pastor.

Between a full-time law practice and preaching and other responsibilities at the church it was quite a challenge. Now, a year removed from my year being “bi”, I thought I would share with you three things I learned.

Continue reading “3 Things I Learned Being Bi”

Seeing The Big Picture

The wife and I were at a local sports bar tonight with Tennessee alumni watching the Volunteers play Memphis. The Vols played well but the service at the bar was terrible.

When our waitress would come out from the bar she would go to just one table each time then return to the bar. She never lifted up her eyes to see if anyone else at a different table needed anything. This went on all night. No less than five times I was waiving my arms trying to get her attention, but she didn’t look up, not once. Instead, she was focused only on the table she came out to check on.

We were finally able to get our check, pay and leave. On the way home we went through the drive thru at the local McDonald’s for an ice cream cone. The attendant handed me the cone with so much ice cream it was about to fall off the top of the cone. Along with the one ice cream cone he handed me eight napkins. Yes, eight.

Now the waitress and the McDonald’s employee, although young, both seemed reasonably intelligent. Yet both of them were terrible at doing jobs that weren’t difficult because they didn’t see the big picture.

The waitress didn’t get that her job was to serve her customers; she apparently thought she was just supposed to take and deliver orders.

The McDondald’s employee didn’t understand his employer was interested in making a profit. If he had understand this, he wouldn’t have wasted his employer’s money by putting way too much ice cream in the cone and giving me eight napkins when I only needed one. Neither he nor the waitress saw the big picture.

After Jesus ministered to the woman at the well, His disciples returned from getting food and encouraged Him to eat. When Jesus told them He had food they didn’t know about, they began to discuss amongst themselves how Jesus had gotten food without them knowing.

Jesus explained he wasn’t talking about food, but doing the Father’s will. He then encouraged them to see the big picture: “Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” (John 4:30-38).

The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about because they weren’t focused on the big picture. Their focus determined their understanding.

Are you seeing the big picture of the kingdom of God or are you focused on only what is immediately before you? GS

Work Is Great, Beer Is Good And People Are Crazy

(c)iStockphotos.com/exl01

“I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.”  These are purportedly Leonardo DaVinci’s last words.  Five hundred years of art critics would disagree with DaVinci’s assessment of his work, but that is not the point here.

What is intriguing is DaVinci, perhaps the greatest painter who ever lived, had such a high standard of excellence, he believed what he produced was offensive to God.  It would be easy to write-off DaVinci’s statement as false humility, but I think there is more here.

DaVinci would not have thought his effort offensive to God unless he believed God saw work as something sacred that demanded excellence.  On this point he was right.  The first two chapters of Genesis record God working (“…and by the seventh day God completed His work…”) and then commenting on the quality of His work (“…God saw all that He had made and behold it was very good.”).  (Gen. 2:2).

When religious leaders criticized Jesus for working on the Sabbath Jesus said, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” (John 5:17).  That must mean God was working from the time of creation until the time of Jesus, and I suspect He has continued to work since then. If God has been working continuously there must be something right about it.

And then there are numerous admonitions in the Bible about hard work and excellence like, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Eccl. 9:10), “Whatever you do, do your work with all your heart, as for the Lord and not for men…” (Col. 3:23) and “Do you see a man skilled in his work, he will stand before kings” (Prov. 22:29). Even after the kingdom of God has transformed the earth, people will be working, building houses and planting vineyards. (Isaiah 65:21). God has a very high view of labor.

It’s man who has denigrated and despised labor.  We live for the weekends and look forward to the holidays.  We can’t wait until five o’clock so we can leave the office.  We work and save and work and save so we can retire as soon as possible.  We act as if work is a necessary evil and that the higher calling is rest and relaxation.  We have it backwards.  In this respect we are the ones who are crazy. Rest is essential and holidays like Labor Day are nice, i.e. “beer is good.” Even God rested after He had worked. (Gen. 2:2).  But rest is not the highest calling.

So, have a great Labor Day–if I haven’t ruined it for you–but look forward to getting back to work on Tuesday where you can please God with your hard work and excellence. GS