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Work is God’s intention for us. He made us to work, and
ultimately He made us to work for Him. [13]
What you do from 9 to 5 or whenever you work is not disconnected
from your Christian life and walk. It is not somehow outside the
parameters of things that are a service and are pleasing to God.
Your work is squarely in the center of your devotion and service
and even worship of God. Even work that now seems meaningless or
trivial may come to have far greater significance. Many times
it’s only after the fact, as we reflect back on our lives, that
we can see how God used us and our work for His glory. [14]
We want instant success, without work or any investment of time.
We become conditioned to appreciate only easy experiences and to
dread the routines of hard work. These cultural malpractices can
spill over from our professional and personal lives into our
spiritual lives. On that score, too, we can look for shortcuts
to spiritual maturity. But such looking is in vain. [18]
Motive is always a difficult test. We can very easily do the
wrong thing for the wrong reason. It’s marginally harder to do
the right thing for the wrong reason. Hardest of all is doing
the right thing for the right reason. God cares not only about
the work that we do, but also about
why we do the work that we do. Motive matters. Admittedly, right
motives are hard to pull off every day and at every task. It’s
good to know that God is forgiving and gracious. But we
shouldn’t let the level of difficulty keep up from making the
attempt. [22]
Great comfort can be taken in the doctrine of the sovereignty of
God. God is not only sovereign, but also all-wise and all-good.
He is, as theologians put it, omni-benevolent. This is no mere
platitude. In fact, it is in the difficult moments when the
doctrine of sovereignty may very well be most palpably felt and
understood and appreciated. [27]
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