Your everyday work can be God’s work with eternal significance

By Dean Collins

It seems if you are going to follow Jesus you will have to do some work. Just yesterday I wrote about Psalm 90 and the psalmist’s prayer that God would show us his favor and establish the work of our hands. I tried to make the point that as followers of Christ we are involved in kingdom work and not just enjoying kingdom benefits. If anything, I think a primary benefit of following Jesus is that our work has meaning and spans eternity.

Psalm 92 calls us to give thanks to God and to sing his praise. When we wake up and see that we are still breathing and that God has provided us another day, we embrace this gift with gratitude. (Some might say that’s not possible until we have our first or second cup of coffee!)

God’s work

The psalmist continues by praying, “For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the work of your hands I sing for joy.” Can you pause and name some of the works of God’s hands for which you are thankful?

The beauty of his creation
That we are God’s image-bearers
For the gift of forgiveness, mercy, and grace because of the work Christ did on the cross

You can continue your own list of thanks to God for his marvelous work in your life.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:58 that because of all that Jesus has done by his death and resurrection, we must be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain. What a great joy to know that our labor is not meaningless. When we offer our work to God, he ensures that it will prove meaningful. You may wonder some days how that is possible. How can the insignificant work I do in an Excel spreadsheet bring a blessing to someone? How can the customer service I provide make any eternal difference? Yet the promise of Scripture is that when we offer all of ourselves including our work to God, he blesses it, celebrates it, and makes it useful in ways we may never know or see until we get to Heaven.

Kingdom benefit

Last week I had a hard week. Some days I wonder if the administrative minutiae of accounting, audit, software decisions, or marketing plans have any kingdom benefit. We can all get lost in the weeds of our jobs and forget the possible outcomes God will bring about because of our efforts.

But on this particular day after a long work road trip, I had three unique encounters that illustrate my point.

• I was sitting in a meeting with university presidents and members of the state legislature including representatives from the governor’s office. We were about to start the final session of a two-day event when the facilitator approached me and said “I wanted to tell you thank you.” For what? He then shared that 12 years ago his mother who had never had an opportunity to go to college came to Point University’s adult degree program, and it changed her life.

• I got back to our campus in time for our last chapel of the year that evening. The speaker, whom I had never heard of, began his sermon: “I could not say no to the invitation to speak at a Point University chapel. This college changed my older brother’s life. Our father went to prison when we were young and life was hard on us. My brother had a hard life, but a few years ago he went to Point University, and it changed his life. He is with the Lord now, but Point made a huge imprint on him.”

• After chapel I walked to my car and a student yelled across the parking lot, ”President Collins, can I speak to you a minute?” Since it was the end of the semester, I expected some complaint about his grade-point average or financial situation. Instead, I got this: “When I came to Point I didn't know who I was or what I wanted. But here I found the Lord and I found out who I am and what I am called to do. I just wanted to say thank you.”

Sing praise

Three amazing conversations in less than 12 hours. I decided then that the stressful and painful work I do that some days doesn't seem worth it has been transformed by God into work that makes me glad. My service makes me want to sing praise for the work of God’s hands as he embraces my hands and makes my work meaningful.

That day was unusual because I had evidence that God was working in me and through me. We don’t always have that kind of day. But even then we must continue to be steadfast and trust that God is doing something on a scale and for a purpose that brings glory to his name and causes angels to sing.

Let’s offer our work up to God today and see what he will do!

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭92:1-2, 4‬; ‭‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15: 58‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by freestocks at Unsplash 

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