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Home » Post Item » Beyond sunday: WORK as worship
Beyond sunday: WORK as worship
February 1, 2010
I want to share with you the preaching I’ve heard through Ptr. Joey Bonifacio and Ptr. Christian Flores. Let us all be blessed!
“Work is when you expend energy in service of others, to be a benefit to the community, for fulfillment, to give glory to God.”
‘My work is worship’It is a way of acknowledging how great our GOD is. When you expend energy , trudge everyday to get to work and get your salary
, you’ll never feel fulfilled. The more you expend energy, the more bouncy, the happier you get.”- Ptr. Joey
We have been fighting a lot of battles lately. It is no doubt that all of us are overwhelmed and stressed out by all of our personal issues , taking also into account national and international havoc. As we close our eyes and sigh, there’s always this hope for something better, a change or maybe a breakthrough, may it be on our work, academics , family or even personal growth. But have we tried to ask ourselves, could it be that we could respond to stressful days with a different attitude? Could it be that instead of whining and complaining, we can be joyful and thankful after a stressful and draining week?
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
- Genesis 2:15
This is the first time the word ‘work’ was mentioned in the bible. If we look its meaning in the dictionary it gives us the synonyms: to do something, worship, work in any sense and in a levitical sense, to serve. The levites were always meticulous when it comes to their work for they know it is GOD whom they were serving , the one who deserves the best. As Martin Luther said, “God is interested in good craftsmanship” and He is the one who called us to be in our places right now.
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
- Genesis 3: 17-18
Then there came the problem. Because of the fall of man, work became tedious. People became conscious of how they will earn a lot to feed themselves. The idea of working was diverted from being an act of service to a responsibility of sustaining one’s life. But we should not be bothered for this does not apply anymore. It is clear in the New testament that someone greater has the responsibility of provision. The GOD we are serving is our source of provision therefore all we must do is to believe and work for HIM This is the right perception about work.
Throughout history, the equivalence of work as an act of worship has been held true. The ascent of money is one of its example. One of the first life insurance companies was designed by missionaries. Obviously, it was designed to serve, to build something. Also, a chain of banks established by the consortium of Christians existed to honor God. Other companies and organizations are also living testimonies to how God provides adequately and graciously. There’s a Danish company which manufactures toys to educate kids. Everyday, they start their work with a prayer. They started as a small company but they grew big because of worhipping a BIG GOD. The Red Cross was founded by Christians and so is the YMCA. The issue is not what and where you do, the issue is the spirit by which you do it. Are you serving God? Are you honoring God?
The sad truth is that somewhere along the way , we lost this spirit. For now we often looked on what job we do than the worship we do when we’re actually working on that specific job. As Christians, we must learn to practice this lesson: to worship God in our work . This is something that we should not do only during calamities or hardships. This what we are all designed to be. This is what God wants us to be.
work at it with all your heart.- Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
- Colossians 3:23
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The hardest thing to do is to work for someone you don’t want to. But good thing is it is God we are serving and we’re gonna get paid by the right master. Eric Liddle, one of the fastest runners once said, “I believe God made me for a purpose but He also made me fast And when I run I feel His presence”. This is the spirit of working for God. It is acknowledging His very presence in everything we do. Sin may offer temporary satisfaction, huge sum of money, a fake of something that is easy to get, but we must not yield to any of these. As Christians, we must exercise how to choose the hard right over the easy wrong, for it is in obedience, patience and perseverance in working that we glorify His name.
To end, the word ‘work’ in Hebrew is translated as shabar or shalbar which means to take care of that atmosphere that His presence in that garden will always be there. How can we be Christians in our work? we must work in such a way that people will notice that ‘there’s something different’, and that they may ask us, “what’s with your spirit?”.
