Work is holy Part 1
And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. Colossians 2:23
Prior to the fall, God had commanded Adam to work when he created Adam, not merely to enjoy the garden of Eden. As one of God's works is to create mankind in His image, humans naturally fulfill this divine mandate to do work that reflects God's glory.
As for me, I had a very wrong view of work that caused me much dissatisfaction. It used to seem to me that secular work was a waste of time since it dealt with the temporal world, and only doing God's work such as ministry had an eternal value. For many years, I wrestled with this spiritual tension because of my wrong mindset, hoping God would bless one day so He could release me from work so I could be a full-time minister. My ignorance caused me to misunderstand His calling for me, since He has already called me to serve Him in every aspect of my life, and because of the wrong mindset, I was unhappy with my career for a long time.
One of the root causes of this mindset is the concept of dualism, where two principles are opposed to each other, like good and evil, and thus separate and compartmentalized things and apply to other areas of life, so under this concept of dualism, we view either secular work or God's work, work life or church life.
Some believers live fragmented or double lives because they have difficulty integrating faith into other areas of their lives, like work, relationships, finances, and even rest. The opposite of fragmentation is wholeness, which is also the meaning of salvation as God wants to bring our fragmentation to His wholeness. We are united with Christ by biblical wholeness, and salvation brings healing to our body, soul, and spirit that integrate into oneness with Christ
It is God's intention that we live lives worthy of our high calling since we were created for good works. Part 2 will explore how our vocational calling can honor God.
Blessing prayer: May our work be sanctified so that it can honor you and give you glory, for we are your masterpieces and created for good works. Thank you for bringing wholeness to our lives. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
