Cursed is the ground because of you,
Through painful toil you will eat of it.
It will produce thorns and thistles.
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.
Jesus gave himself for us,
To redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own,
Eager to do what is good.
Two of the greatest influences of our age,
Culture and commerce,
Converge in the marketplace.
Our business and workplace are ground zero for us in facing the dual demands of culture and commerce.
Yet it is the least likely for Christians to impact.
Because of this,
Christians have minimal influence over business decisions and working relationships.
This is not what God intended.
As Christians we should be making a positive impact on our workplaces.
We know life lived fully in Jesus Christ has power.
As the world becomes more individualistic,
Materialistic and hedonistic,
Lives of Christians should become more attractive and authentic.
But what detracts us from working for our Father in our careers and influence our workplaces?
The sweat of work,
Its thorns and thistles can choke the good of work.
Toil is the result of sin.
This toil can be relentless and exhausting,
Taking a physical and emotional toll.
It can wear us down.
Mechanical things don't always work well.
People aren't cooperative or supportive.
We want to accomplish more than we are able,
Both because of lack of ability and resistance from the environment around us.
Work includes pain,
Conflict,
Envy and fatigue.
Not all our goals are met.
We become discouraged.
The toil of work causes jobs to seem pointless,
Fruitless and boring.
God still wants his creations to fulfill his purpose.
It was made that all might flourish.
A fallen and broken world just makes the job harder.
A Gallup study showed that only 30% of people are actually engaged with their work.
50% are disengaged and almost 20% hate their jobs.
That means that 70% of working people spend half of their waking hours in jobs they don't enjoy,
Aren't fully engaged in,
Or at worst,
Despise.
Most experience work not as a gift from God,
But as a hard,
Depressing,
Grinding toil.
Monday isn't something they look forward to.
As Christians,
This is particularly sad.
God has something better in mind.
In our time,
While toil can't be separated from work,
Toil and work are distinct from each other.
Focusing on working for our Father is key.
This enables the good of work to minimize the toil of work.
It makes a difference in our lives and the lives of others.
Unfortunately,
The survey shows people,
Including Christians,
More often choose two other alternatives – unhealthy strategies to cope with the toil of work.
The strategies?
We work to live,
Or we live to work.
Most disengage and choose to work to live.
Work becomes a means to an end,
Not a constructive part of the Father's plan.
As a result,
We live a divided life.
We compartmentalize our life.
We disengage.
We undercommit.
It's only a means to our own bigger interests and desires.
We put in our time while looking forward to the other things we would much rather do.
We don't give it our best.
We end up resenting work as an intrusion of our time and life.
We disconnect our work from its created purpose.
We certainly don't see it as a place where we show our faithfulness and obedience to God,
Where we can serve God and others.
The other strategy is we live to work.
We expect work to give us personal validation,
Identity,
And meaning.
But jobs and occupations are unable to answer these questions.
They are not equipped for the task.
We're asking them to give us something they can't deliver.
As a result,
We overcommit.
We sacrifice in other areas,
And only come away frustrated.
We're often overworked.
Our validation,
Identity,
And meaning are only found in Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
We bring our God-given meaning and identity to our workplaces.
As Christians,
We're called to restore the good of work and offset the toil of work.
Take my yoke upon you,
Learn from me,
And you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Living for our Father puts life in balance.
We engage and bring our service and devotion to God to work.
We leave a divided and compartmentalized life behind.
We become active influencers in the culture of our workplaces.
We begin to live a life of integrity.
It's a life that's conscientious and honors our Creator,
While resisting the idols of the world that cause us to compromise our devotion to God at work.
Out of the idols we are tempted to worship at work,
Idols that can take the role rightfully belonging to our Father,
We make idols out of our career,
Our money,
Our position,
Our popularity,
Our talents,
Even our opinions.
All are man-made.
When they are at the center of things,
They become idols we worship.
They leave God and His plan on the outside.
We try to use them for our own pleasure rather than trust in God.
Possessions,
Power,
And pleasure offer the illusion of happiness and personal freedom,
But we know the world's freedom is actually slavery.
It's a happiness that can't deliver,
A happiness that doesn't last and is never enough,
Futile pursuits coming at the expense of our devotion to the Father.
Do not love the world or the things of the world.
The love of the Father is not in those who love the world.
For all that is in the world,
The desire of the flesh,
The desire of the eyes,
The pride of riches,
Comes not from the Father but from the world.
Probably the greatest idol in a consumerist society where money is happiness quantified.
Wealth isn't evil,
But dangers do lie in prosperity.
Wealth can be its own toxic potion.
We can isolate ourselves,
Accumulating more and more for our own enjoyment,
Becoming indifferent to the needs of the less fortunate,
Fooling ourselves to think we did it on our own and not through God's good grace.
Greed isn't reserved for the rich.
The less fortunate can covet what they don't have.
It's a matter of the heart.
Where is our treasure?
Where are the desires of our heart?
How does our behavior at work help answer these questions?
God doesn't want us preoccupied with avoiding temptation and not sinning.
He wants us to turn from them and to Him,
Joining Him in His mission to restore all things,
Free to focus on working for our Father.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God.
The benefit you reap is holiness,
And the result is eternal life.
We have confidence in three truths.
We are personally responsible for our sins.
The world,
The flesh,
And the devil may have influenced our decisions,
But they are our decisions.
God is slow to anger,
Rich in compassion and mercy.
He wants to set us free.
The Father washes us clean in the blood of His Son,
Who He gave for our sins.
His forgiveness is free for the asking.
As we turn from our sinful,
Self-centered tendencies,
We give ourselves to our Father and offer our service in the restoration of His creation.
Sin is no longer our master,
For we are now under God's great grace.
Be steadfast,
Immovable,
Always excelling in the work of the Lord,
Because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
As Christians,
We have confidence in God's story of redemption for His created world.
We work with all of our being and do not get discouraged when we find thorns and thistles breaking through the soil.
We know our work is not in vain.
We are free to serve as stewards of His creation and focus on working for our Father with faith,
Integrity,
And excellence.
In a heart so dark and dim When the walls fall down And the light comes in Something changed inside me Broke wide open or spilled out Till I had no doubt That something changed
