How can we combine the holy and the
ordinary in our everyday lives? This is a question I was recently confronted
with. Balance, an integrated life that
glorifies Jesus is what we are striving for whether we are working in our home
country or doing B4T.
During the “Dark Ages” holy men and
women isolated themselves in monasteries to seek holiness and quietness, to
live for God. There’s nothing wrong with
this but we should ask ourselves, Why
should it be so difficult to let the experience of God, the presence of God and
leadership of God in the midst of our normal daily lives?
Most of Christ’s speeches and miracles
were not performed in the holy places, such as the temple and the
synagogue. His teachings were
characterized by the surroundings of places He and His disciples were. The
parables Jesus taught were taken from what they experienced in their daily
lives and work – fishing and fish, shepherds and sheep, business and making
money. Even when Jesus gave the Great
Commission, His followers were not gathered in the temple in Jerusalem, but in
prayer on a mountain near their homes and workplaces, where He had met them a
few years before.
Jesus is with us in our everyday living
and that is where He wants to be. This is both the blessing and the challenge
for B4Ters; to make the “ordinary” holy, allowing the work we do to become both
ours and Jesus’. It is in the midst of
our work Jesus wants to meet us, and reveal Himself. After they had completed the night shift of
fishing on the Sea of Galilee, He appeared to a group of fishermen on a beach
and served them a physical and spiritual meal. Our Lord wants to show us that He
has new challenges for us, and with these challenges He provides our needs and
guidance. In the middle of our everyday
work we too are asked: “Do you love me more than these?” and it is in the
middle of our everyday work that we are to answer.
Remember who we are working for –
Jesus.
Remember what we are working for – His
glory.
Work and witness are not two separate
things, but one seamless way to reveal the who
and the what or our work.
Whatever you
do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24
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