work or witness

Too often, we give God only the tired remnants of our time.
A. W. Tozer

pieter_bruegel_the_elder-_the_corn_harvest_august
(The Harvesters / Pieter Bruegel the Elder /1565 / The Met)

We have to do worldly jobs, but if we do them with sanctified minds they
no longer are worldly, but are as much a part of our offering to God
as anything else we give them.

A. W. Tozer

Unless you’ve won the lottery or are the member of some royal family’s life of leisure,
you are working man or woman.

You have a job…
and you are working….
be it 9 to 5,
11 to 7,
8 to 4,
or 24/7

It’s a job you either love or a job you either hate.

As you either work for yourself or you work for someone else,
but either way,
you work.

You work at work and you work at home…
Spending the majority of your adult life working…

You often grouse that you hate your job as you hate your life…
You’re stuck in a dead end job,
a job where you’re under appreciated,
a job that barely sees you getting by…
A job where you spend the bulk of your time, your energy, your life….
working…
A job that sucks the very life out of your being.

Maybe you’re a lucky one…and you love your job.
Maybe it’s fulfilling.
Maybe it’s fun.
Maybe it’s satisfying
As in it’s all you ever wanted.

And yet…
still…
something is missing…
There is a struggle to find that balance between work and life.
Between work and family
Between work and God…

Maybe it’s time to reconsider how work is viewed…
That work and jobs are more than work and more than jobs…

Maybe, just maybe it is all meant as something more…

β€œTo every true Christian these two things may be said:
You have need of Christ and Christ has need of you.”
The simple fact that a Christian is on earth and not in heaven,
is proof that there is something for him here to do;
and if he is not doing it, the neglect shows either that he is not
yet a Christian or that he is a Christian who grieves Christ.”

William Arnot

19 comments on “work or witness

  1. Citizen Tom says:

    Excellent post on a difficult topic.

    “….or that he is a Christian who grieves Christ.” I would say that is a scary thought, but it is too sad for that. If we are a Christian, then we don’t lose our salvation, I suppose, but we do miss seeing our Lord’s pleasure in us. And we also miss a fulfilling life.

    For all eternity we will remember how we lived here on this earth. If we seek to do God’s will, we will remember our life here with satisfaction. For even if we suffered doing His work, we will have had the happiness of knowing we did what is right. And that we will remember and share with others, even our Lord, forever.

  2. Everything is something more than we mortals seem to be able to comprehend and accept. πŸ™‚ ❀

  3. SLIMJIM says:

    Good post Julie.

  4. Wally Fry says:

    Reblogged this on Truth in Palmyra and commented:
    Does God get the first fruits of our time, or the tired leftovers? Great thoughts here. Blessings and enjoy!

  5. I really enjoyed this. Well said. πŸ™‚

  6. Tricia says:

    This post really resonated with me. I enjoy my job but am constantly looking for meaning. Maybe I’m viewing things completely wrong….

    • When I wrote this post Tricia, I was thinking about when I was teaching.
      I can remember standing in the room one day, looking out at all the kids working, talking, laughing and thinking that this stuff, this day to day “stuff” pales in comparison to what I should be telling them, should be sharing with them…the Good News…which matters most in the long run of their lives…but then I’d probably would have been fired on the spot…that little business about separation of church and state you know…
      So there was frustration as I knew the bigger picture…so living my faith and hope was just going to have to be the witness—how I acted and reacted to things in front of them would then be key…and being human, doesn’t mean I’d always get it right…so it made me really think about our faith when it came to our secular lives and secular jobs…how to remain faithful to God while fulfilling our worldly duties in a secular society…no easy task…but we can be witnesses no matter where we find ourselves situated…it’s a matter of perspective and asking God to use us where we are…or to move us perhaps elsewhere…cause when it’s all said and done…so much of this life will simply pass away…

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