Seeing your Job as a Calling from God
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord (Colossians 3:23)
Let’s face it, most of us spend a lot of our time on earth either at work or thinking about work. As a result of this, we can often get into a rhythm of just seeing our jobs as a means to earn a living or earn enough to get through the necessities of life (bills, rent, food etc). However, I believe as Christians we should recognise our job as a calling from God that gives us a deeper purpose. We should see our work as worship, and, as it says in Colossians, work at it with all our heart. In fact, we have this very bible verse on the Christian Jobs website, to remind ourselves and fellow brothers and sisters of this very calling.
On my very first day working for Christian Jobs, we started to read ‘Every Good Endeavor’ by Tim Keller. The book focuses on God’s plan that we were actually created to work, rather than have to work to just get by. It hones in on our faith enhancing our work life and in turn, we grow and develop our faith and our relationship with God. I would encourage you to read or study something like this either individually or as a team if you would like to gain further insight into seeing your job as a calling from God.
Recognising Work as Part of God’s Design
Let’s go back to the beginning for a minute, specifically to Genesis. There are a few things to touch on here, but I’ll try and keep it brief. First of all, let’s start by acknowledging when God himself created Earth, it is referred to as work. So in the very beginning, work was being done, it was already part of the design; (By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work (Gen 2:2)).
We also read just before this that God makes mankind in his image, and in his likeness, and gives dominion to rule over creatures, fish, livestock etc. And this narrative continues later on in Genesis 2:15 ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.’
We learn in these passages that work is not a consequence of what went wrong but was designed by God for us. We have responsibility, we have work ethic, and we are called to imitate God and his character. We should embrace this and start to see our work as a calling and as a form of worship to the Lord. Hopefully, then, this will start to give us a deeper sense of purpose and renew the meaning of work for us, giving us a fresh perspective and newfound commitment.
Serving Others
I think we can all agree that as Christians, we are to imitate Christ, and Christ came to serve. He showed us, by washing Peter’s feet, what it is to serve others and not be served ourselves. Our work should be a means for us to serve others, be compassionate, and extend Christ’s love. If we see our job as a calling, it will spur us on to bless others, imitate Christ and follow his commands of loving Him and loving others. This can be through a number of different ways, such as striving for excellence in everything we do, giving great customer service, being proactive, contributing to our community, and even helping our colleagues (it’s not limited to who we serve outside of the office).
Excellence and Purpose
Seeing our job as a calling from God, as worship, also encourages us to strive for excellence (as I touched on in the above paragraph) in everything we do. However, this is not to say we should put ourselves under immense pressure or overwork ourselves. What I mean is, once we recognise our calling and understand our work is for the glory of God, it should motivate and encourage us to do our best, and want to continue to grow and flourish. I think this would help our approach to our work, as instead of maybe feeling defeated and overwhelmed, we would start to feel purpose and a sense of fulfilment as we come to realise that our work is part of a bigger picture, God’s picture. I know many of us will struggle with finding purpose and satisfaction in our jobs, and this can really take its toll. But God is calling us to something more, even in the mundane.
Let’s Embrace It
Embracing seeing your job as a calling from God transforms us as Christians. It transforms our approach to work, the way we think about our work and how we act in the workplace (whether that be in a Christian or non-Christian workplace). By accepting the divine purpose behind our jobs, we start to find fulfilment in daily, seemingly mundane tasks, strive to try our best and serve others. An important thing to remember is that our work is important to God, it matters to Him, and we have the opportunity every day to show His love in all the ways listed above. Let’s embrace our calling, our deeper purpose for our work, resting in the knowledge that we are playing our part in God’s bigger picture.
Let's finish with a prayer: God, thank you for giving us each a deeper purpose. We ask that you guide us to the purpose you have for us at our place of work, and help us to remember the calling upon us so we may show your love through the work we do.