Serve at Work

“Do you have a cigarette?” A man asked as I was heading into the library. I told him I didn't smoke, but I thought it would be a hard habit to quit. He informed me that it was even harder to quit crack.

"What kind of work do you do?" he asked.

I told him I was a pasor and I was going inside to write a sermon. Then he told me he was hungry. So, I invited him to meet me at the nearby gazebo for lunch around noon.

He was waiting for me when I arrived with cheeseburgers. While we ate, I asked, “Do you have a dream job?”

With great excitement, he told me he'd like to manage an after-school program where kids could learn computer skills. As we spoke, a police car pulled up to the library, and two officers headed toward us. I asked my new friend: “Are they looking for me or for you?”

As the officers requested to speak with him in private, I walked away and thanked God for the short time I had spent with this man and prayed that one day his dream would come true.

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How could you serve God at work or on a lunch break? Mission does not have to be present in a job title to show up in the workplace. All places of employment have the potential to be transformed into a mission field. Serving God at work does not require a passport or divinity degreee.

The best place to start is with the job description. The standard job description assigns essential responsibilities in a workplace. Yet, we are created to accomplish more than basic requirements at work—we are created to love God and neighbor. And bare good fruit in the world, fruit such as love, joy, and faithfulness. Our world needs more from us than fulfilling basic requirements. We need to prayerfully seek ways to incorporate serving God into our current job descriptions. We may be surprised by the avenues already in place to serve in mission during the workday.

Jesus calls us to work that requires our whole self. We must go beyond the things we like to do and do the things God needs us to do. This week, may our prayers be bold and our ears attentive in serving God at our places of work.

Spiritual Resources

Scriptures

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established... The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps. Proverbs 16:3 and 9 New Revised Standard Bible Whatever you do [whatever your task may be ], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for me. Colossians 3:23, Amplified Bible

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