Colossians 3:22-24 from the passage that we worked through yesterday is a great section contributing to a theology of work. Theology of work is the idea that God has a big worship purpose in the everyday working life of everyday people. The point is--your work is not separate from your spiritual life; your work is your spiritual life.
There are two ways I see that a follower of Jesus can approach their work:
- Work as "Eye-service": you offer your work to your boss to convince him of your worth. Result: better paycheck.
- Work as "God-service": you offer your work to God to convince God of His worth to you. Result: better, fuller, deeper worship of Jesus.
Work as "God-service" is a powerful expression of worship. And the powerful point of it is, if you offer your work to God, you send it ahead into kingdom as worship. "...Work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward."
That's kingdom speak. It means your work becomes a tool for filling the eternal kingdom with blessing. It means your work takes on eternal value. Think about it--your approach to data entry, teaching, hammering nails, filing, consulting, programming, litigating... all of it has the potential to be a chorus of worship that reverberates eternally.
Happy Monday!
