Defining Success in My 9-to-5 Job

Audio Transcript

We talked about holiness and good works final time, and why our holy deeds will not be filthy rags. That’s a typical delusion that should die. And we’re again on the subject of objective, taking a look at what it means to achieve success in our 9-to-5 jobs. That’s as a result of at the moment in our Bible-reading plan we learn Proverbs 16:3 collectively: “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans shall be established.” That makes me take into consideration work. And I do know lots of you take heed to this podcast in your drive in to work within the morning, so this appears particularly related proper now. We’ve targeted a number of podcast episodes on careers and calling, overworking, laziness, objective and private productiveness — all these issues we’ve lined, and for that see the APJ e book on pages 67–94.

We get so many questions right here as a result of we don’t wish to waste our lives. And which means we don’t wish to waste our jobs. We make investments a lot of our lives at work, and it’s a spot to pursue excellence. However why? And the way? To what degree? What does success appear to be right here, on the jobsite and within the workplace? The query to get us began is from Dylan. “Howdy, Pastor John. In Colossians 3:22–24, Paul exhorts his readers to ‘work heartily, as for the Lord and never for males.’ Does this imply that any work not carried out in excellence is sinful? And the way will we apply God’s view of labor to cleansing our home, writing a paper for college, or working a 9-to-5 job? I’ve been feeling responsible about the best way I deal with these items for months now, and I’m undecided if I’m simply being lazy, self-righteous, or am I disobeying the Lord?”

The very first thing, with regard to his guilt, or feeling responsible, is that the Bible handles guilt in two methods — and each are crucial, not only one. One is the blood of Jesus that covers all our sin, together with how we do our work (and none of us does our work in addition to we may; we’re at all times falling wanting the perfect). One is the blood of Jesus that cancels our guilt. And the opposite is to resolve to stroll and work faithfully earlier than the Lord within the freedom of that forgiveness.

If we attempt to use the blood of Jesus as a free go to stroll in sin, our conscience will stand up and protest, thank God. And if we attempt to stroll in faithfulness and obedience with out counting on the blood of Jesus for forgiveness and enablement, we are going to both fail in despair or we are going to appear to be we succeed and grow to be proud. It’s the 2 collectively — the blood of Jesus and the resolve of strolling and dealing faithfully, obediently — that’s the important thing to the peaceable lifetime of being forgiven earlier than God and being vigilant over our hearts and minds as we go about our day by day duties.

So, what’s God’s will for the way we must always do our unusual work? After which particularly, what does working “as for the Lord” imply in Colossians 3:23? Let’s get the larger image first.

Earlier than the Face of God

Within the Bible, God makes a complete, absolute declare on our lives, all of our lives — together with all of our work of no matter variety. All the things in our lives is to be carried out earlier than the face of God — in reliance upon God’s grace, in keeping with God’s steering, for God’s glory.

Hear to those wonderful passages. That is Colossians 3:17: “No matter you do, in phrase or deed, do every thing within the identify of the Lord Jesus, giving because of God the Father via him.” Isn’t that tremendous? Each phrase, each deed “within the identify of the Lord Jesus.” Or 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whether or not you eat or drink, or no matter you do, do all to the glory of God.” Or Proverbs 3:5–6: “Belief within the Lord with all of your coronary heart, and don’t lean by yourself understanding. In all of your methods” — all of your methods — “acknowledge him, and he’ll make straight your paths.” Or Proverbs 16:3: “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans shall be established.” Or considered one of my favorites, from Romans 14 (simply because it’s so amazingly sweeping in calling us to reside Godward lives):

The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he provides because of God, whereas the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and provides because of God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we reside, we reside to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether or not we reside or whether or not we die, we’re the Lord’s. For to this finish Christ died and lived once more, that he could be Lord each of the useless and of the residing. (Romans 14:6–9)

Wonderful. I like it. Oh, how I wish to reside to the Lord, earlier than the Lord, at all times close to the Lord. All these texts have one fundamental message: We belong to God. We’re not our personal. All the things we do, from morning until night time, is to be carried out in a Godward method, earlier than his face — in reliance on his grace, guided by his will, aiming to make him look magnificent and superb as our all-satisfying treasure. That’s what work is for. That’s what all of life is for.

And I don’t know whether or not Dylan is aware of my e book Don’t Waste Your Life, however there’s a chapter known as “Making A lot of Christ from 8 to five,” which tries to grapple with, How do you go about doing all your day by day work in order to not waste what it’s for?

How Do We Work?

Now, only a few phrases about Colossians 3. Right here’s the textual content that Dylan is exercised about. It’s obtained the phrase in it, “work . . . as for the Lord and never for males.” It goes like this: “Bondservants, obey in every thing those that are your earthly masters, not by means of eye-service, as people-pleasers, however with sincerity of coronary heart, fearing the Lord. No matter you do, work heartily, as for the Lord.” As for the Lord. So, work “as for the Lord and never for males, understanding that from the Lord you’ll obtain the inheritance as your reward. You might be serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:22–24).

“All the things we do, from morning until night time, is to be carried out in a Godward method, earlier than his face.”

So, work “as for the Lord.” And Paul modifies this command in 5 methods so we are able to know — there’s not a lot doubt right here — how Paul thinks about this. There are 5 modifiers to what he means by “as for the Lord.”

1. To not be carried out with “eye-service,” as men-pleasers: That’s, you’re not simply angling to impress others once you do your work. God, not others, is the one you may have in view. You’re working in a Godward method first, not a manward method.

2. The other of eye-service is “sincerity,” he says. In different phrases, you actually imply the nice that your work is aiming to do. The work is to not impress others. The work is what it’s. It’s for the nice of others.

3. “Fearing the Lord”: in different phrases, fearing displeasing the Lord — having a reverential want to please the Lord in the best way you do your work.

4. Working “heartily”: actually “from the soul” — that’s, not half-heartedly however placing your complete self into it.

5. Anticipating an important reward from the Lord: Even when man provides you nothing for it, that doesn’t matter ultimately. What issues ultimately is that you just’re going to get completely overabundance — a poured-down, pressed-together, overflowing-in-your-lap reward from the Lord.

Now, all 5 of these pointers for the way we do our work for the Lord are given to us not as a result of the Lord wants our work. He doesn’t. Acts 17:25: “[God is not] served by human arms, as if he wanted something.” God doesn’t want our work. That’s not the purpose. Paul gave us these directions as a result of this may convey the best pleasure to us after we work this fashion, and it’ll present that God is our best treasure.