Are we to feel spiritual in our everyday work? How can we worship God when our lives are so mundane? What value is there in the everyday/week/month/year grind of life? How can we see our jobs as more than a paycheck?
Do those questions ring a bell of familiarity within you? Many cannot see their vocational life nor their routine life as spiritual in nature. I want to assure you that your job is certainly a spiritual experience and can be used to worship God in powerful ways. It is also true that God loves us to worship Him when we are bored and feel that our lives are simply a pattern of repeated steps. The mundane pattern of life is actually the bulk of most people's experience. It simply makes sense that God knew this and desired for us to engage and worship Him with largest part of our existence.
Colossians 3:23 says this, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men..." Notice this verse says that 'whatever you do'. God loves zookeepers, animators and molecular biologists. God sees value and beauty in each vocation. God also loves call center workers, dancers and financial planners. The point is that whatever vocation we choose in life, we should know that God wants to be honored (worshiped) as we work and in our vocations.
The Colossians passage teaches us that our work or vocation is to be done as if Jesus were our boss and standing right next to us. We are to our work 'heartily' or 'energetically'. The word used for working heartily is a command. This adds to the truth that our work/vocation is blessed by God not matter what our work is.
We are told in Colossians 3:17 that "...whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Here we find that not only our vocation is involved but everything we do...whatever we do is holy and should be done in the name of the Lord.
But what about when life becomes repeated steps of getting up, going to work, coming home, cleaning house or yard, watching T.V. and going to bed? May I suggest that you begin by thanking God and then go through the routine of your day offering up shout outs to God or small thoughts of adoration to Him or even short bursts of requests and even complaints. Take notice of the small things in life like the good taste of Iced Tea or the convenience of communication today or how about that your feet don't hurt (assuming they don't :-).
No matter how rugged, smooth or powerful or boring your life may seem, God is interested. God is interested in helping you through the issues and to use you and develop you through them. God wants you to bring more joy, color, fullness, wholeness and faith to the people you touch. God has created you specifically for what you do so that you can bring a deep blessing up on the world in small and large ways.
As a believer, everything you do is spiritual because the Holy Spirit lives in you. Everything you do is holy, because God resides in you. You are important, your life is important and your vocation is important so do everything as you would if you were serving Jesus...because you are!
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