Monday 29 March 2010

WHILST AT WORK...


Whatever may be your task, work at it
heartily (from the soul), as [something done]
for the Lord and not for men.
Colossians 3:23 (AMP)


Everyday, one of our aim and desire should be to continuously live in the presence of God; at home, play and more especially at work.

Work is where most of us spend the best part of our day, week, month, year and indeed life.
To put this into perspective, lets look at it from an average working week of 40 hours. Working such hours in a week will equate to 1,960 hours per year (taking away holidays). This means that we spend 22.4% of our lives (not including overtime) working. I know, mind boggling!

To picture it another way, imagine an individual starts their working life at the age of 21, and retires at the age of 65. This means at the time of retirement, they would have worked 44 years out of 65 years of life, which equates to over 91,250 hours, (all based on a 40 hour week).

With this, you will agree with me that this is a tremendous amount of time in a life, spent working. Also, bearing in mind that from numerous researches and data (through google), states that the average life expectancy in developed nations is just 78 years old.


This tells me that such long hours and dedication to work should really be of good benefit to us. Which leads me to think that, if we spend so much time doing this work, for us to reap the benefits, we MUST learn to do it the right way and with the right attitude. We must learn to get the most out of our time at work.

A few things we can do to help us work the right way and in the right attitude, thus getting the most out of work is:


  • Visualise ourselves as a servant: Just like Jesus Christ, we must embrace the spirit of servant hood. Jesus Christ came to earth not to be served, but to serve. According to Mathew 20:25-28 (please click on the verse to read), He encourages us to adopt the same attitude. Furthermore, Paul challenges us in colossians 3:22 to work from the heart, for our real master, God and to do so in reverent fear of Him. It reads " Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. " The fear of the Lord gives courage and mobilizes (moves, empowers, energises) us to act in accordance to His word and character of Jesus Christ.


  • Acknowledge that we work for the Lord Himself: Yes, physically, we work within an organisation, our own business, with supervisors, shareholders and all the rest. However, the employer only exercises physical authority over us, but Jesus Christ is our Lord, and we work for HIM. This brings to life the meaning of the opening verse Colossians 3:23 ... "working onto God, and not unto men". In our workplace, Jesus Christ is the big Boss. He is the Boss that watches us from afar, but is also with you in the thick of it. With this understanding, we must be diligent to work for the full day's pay we are claiming or being paid. It is a common notion to separate a life as thus: Monday to Sunday - work (no Jesus Christ present), Saturday (play, no Jesus Christ present), Sunday (church and worship). God did not order our lives to be segregated as such. He wants and should be involved in every part of our lives including whilst we are at work. When we embrace and live out this notion, I believe we will start and continue to make profound differences in and to our places of work. Our places of employment SHOULD NEVER be the same, because WE work there.

  • Realise that our pay comes NOW and in ETERNITY: Nobody pays like God. In Colossians 3:24, Paul encourages by reminding us that our reward comes from God. Yes we must get paid here on eart, because we need to look after our affairs (expenses, the family), but even when we do our very best, no employer can really pay us our full due, except God. He is the one who owns the heavens and earth.

So, as you make your way through a brand new day and new week, I encourage you to embrace the spirit, and attitude of servant hood. Learning from some of our ancestors like Joseph. He was a slave (worker) in Egypt but eventually, through his diligence became the Head of Portiphar's household and then eventually the Prime minister of Egypt.

And how about Daniel? He who served in a non-believer's environment (workplace). Then, he served a king who put his people into exile. However, The Bible says in Daniel 1, that he, Daniel had the ability to serve a king who was cruel, immoral, wicket, and a pagan. He eventually rose to the top position in the land.

And finally, our ultimate example Jesus Christ, who did not come to be served, but came serve and save us.

I encourage you to work diligently as working onto the Lord, doing the best you can do at your work. The Holy Spirit who is always present will equip and energise you.

The attitude you embrace will be rewarded by man and handsomely by God. The impact you make will bring change to your environment, making God famous along your way.


Much love, Remi
***pictures by photobucket***

11 Comments:

Rita said...

44 years???

I like the part of the pay comes now and in eternity...

Thanks luv...

Giagerry said...

ahah this post was up 13 minutes ago--i was expecting to be the first to comment--nd Rita jumps in!
Newaiz I luv teh part of being a servant, thats one of teh areasmost pple struggle with--but we forget that is the whole point in our christian walk, to serve!
stop by my post and share ur stories guys!
xx

Jennifer A. said...

The part that hit me the most was the illustration of a person starting to work at 21 and retiring at 65...44 years gone, we have to make the most of our work.

Thanks for the scripture (Colossians 3:23)

David C Brown said...

The passage you begin with goes on to "ye serve the Lord Christ" which is a very dignified title of Jesus, and I think that is the only time scripture uses it. it gives the dignity that belongs to doing even the ordinary things for the Lord.

(But it gets scary when you are getting to my end of the 44 years! 38 years worked - and where have they gone?)

Rose said...

"Everyday, one of our aims and desire should be to continuously live in the presence of God; at home, play and more especially at work."

So True.
I remember experiencing bad situations at my old work, and the passage was recommended to me by a friend...

Thanks:for visiting and, for sharing...

Writefreak said...

Jeez! That's a long time spent working!

We must do it all as unto the Lord...thank you!

Myne said...

Another teaching post, thanks for sharing Remi.

Straight from the heart said...

When's that book, coming out?
Great piece as always

Blogoratti said...

Thank you very much Remi...for sharing that and lots more.
How are you?

Kafo said...

i really need to be more diligent at work

thanks for this

Travis T. Wisconsin said...

Of course you only want people to hear about the good parts of the bible, the parts that you can make sound good and inspirational to people. But, when someone finds something that goes against all you believe you must remove their voice quickly, so no one else can be tainted by the blasphemy that came out of Jesus's own mouth. I will not be so easily silenced, for I will post until your god smites me, which won't happen no matter how much you pray. If you truly serve Jesus then you must follow Matthew 10:21-22 34-39, kill your parents and loved ones if you want to be accepted into the kingdom of god. Jesus is a false messiah, there are no messiahs, we are all just complex organisms that are the product of millions of years of evolution, that is it. Don't waste your life trying to please something that doesn't exist only to find out that you were wrong after you die and cease to exist.