A Life Without the B.S. #3
No Boring Servitude
I know, I know. Last week I wrote about No Blowing Sunshine and I come up with a title like “No Boring Servitude.” This is just a preacher’s way of saying find a job you love with some fancy alliteration. All of us have worked jobs we woke up in the morning which we could call in sick and just avoid. It seems a tough way to make our way in this world. How do we do more than just mark hours and collect pay check? We need to find a way to move beyond boring servitude to making a difference with our work. I think there are four things we need to change our profession into a life changing adventure.
I think the first you need is a passion that gets you out of bed every day. I know, we are talking about work and to think that you can have a job that gets your blood pumping can seem like a pipe dream. It can happen though. In the Bible there is this guy named Jeremiah who was a prophet who spent his life having to say things no one wanted to hear. God asked him to announce judgment and curses on the nation of Israel. Every day he had to go to work and say some lousy things to some people who did not want to see him coming at all.
It was so hard for him that he actually penned these words one day. “Sometimes I say to myself, “I will forget about the LORD. I will not speak anymore in his name.” But then his message becomes like a burning fire inside me, deep within my bones. I get tired of trying to hold it inside of me, and finally, I cannot hold it in.” [Jeremiah 20:9 (NCV)]
He wants to quit and stop spreading his bad vibe, but he just can’t because God has placed a fire within him that will not be quenched. He may not like his job but he needs to speak these words. I know we may not hate our jobs, but they are a struggle sometimes unless we find the right one. One that can give us a passion even on those days we may not feel like going to work. Your passion doesn’t have “burn” within you, but it makes work a lot better to have a job you enjoy. Some people luck into a job they love, others have to search for it and find it. We are more blessed to find work that can bring us fulfillment.
The next thing we need is the ability to make a difference. A job we are not good at can just drain our souls of any one of us. King Solomon watched people work his whole life. Towards the end of his life he gave some advice to us. In Ecclesiastes 9:10 he wrote, “Whatever work you do, do your best, because you are going to the grave, where there is no working, no planning, no knowledge, and no wisdom.” We need to give all we’ve got to our jobs, when we work we need to work. One of my first jobs was working with my step-father laying tile. He always used to talk about working hard and earning your pay check every day. Of course, it may have been because he was writing the checks. He taught me to work hard and it has paid off in my life. Every job I’ve had I believed I should earn every dime they pay me. I worked to get better at my job. I asked questions that drove my bosses crazy, but I wanted to know how to do the job the best I could. I had to make sure that I learned what I needed to know so that I could add value to my job. We need to make ourselves valuable to our employer so that we can know we did a good job and earned our way.
Then there comes the question of why are we working? Is it just so we have enough for us or is it so we can help others. Our jobs not only provide for us but so that we can provide for those around us who have needs. If work to only take care of ourselves then it truly is just a job. If we could realize that we are blessed with what we have to pass our blessings on to the people around us. If we work to make a little more so that we have something to share with others our job becomes a mission for good. It no longer is servitude, but a gift for others.
Then there is this fourth thought that rambles around in my head about work. When God created Adam in the Garden of Eden he gave him work to do. He was supposed to watch over the garden and tend to it. He was given a job by God. He named the animals and took care of the plants. In the place that was good, Adam had a job. In paradise he had something to do. So if we stop and think that paradise means sitting around doing nothing we might be mistaken. What if we saw the work God has given us to do here as an assignment from him. Our jobs add to the life of all those around us. No more “working for the man”, instead we are working for God. Think about these verses before you go to work tomorrow: “Do your work with enthusiasm. Work as if you were serving the Lord, not as if you were serving only men and women. Remember that the Lord will give a reward to everyone, slave or free, for doing good.” [Ephesians 6:7-8 (NCV)]
So our works goes from providing for me to providing for others. Work changes from working for the man to working for God. It can go from a daily drudge to a holy calling. All of the sudden we make a difference with our work, not just a living. That sounds like “No Boring Servitude” to me. Maybe I can work a little while longer. Maybe I will see my time sheet & pay check as a holy offering to God. Well, at least I’ll be praying you see it that way.