“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.’”
-John 4:34
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
-Genesis 1:26
Since the creation of Adam and Eve, there has always been work to do on earth. There was a garden to be tended, animals to be cared for, and relationships to foster. Yet it was never those tasks that were meant to offer meaning to God’s creation, it was the creation that gave meaning to the tasks at hand.
The great theologian Charles Spurgeon once said, “Hard work is a splendid thing. It will make a way under a river, or through an Alp. Hard work will do almost everything; but in God’s service it must not only be hard work, but hot work. The heart must be on fire.”
There’s a significant truth we can take from this: if we do not bring a deep personal passion to what we do, then our work will be completed in vain. Now, this doesn’t always mean that we’ll love everything our work requires us to do, but it does mean that the meaning we bring to our work will be strong enough to overcome even those tasks we might not always enjoy.
“For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”
-Luke 9:25
Consider the cyclical nature of someone who gains meaning from their work. You start out aimless, searching for reason. Then you discover your work. All of a sudden, you realize you like money, you like meeting deadlines, and you like moving up the ladder. Very quickly, you begin making every life decision based on 3 factors.
How will this help me make more money?
How can I make time to meet my deadlines?
How can I use this to push my career forward?
And the thing about these particular questions is that they will never ever have a final answer. They will be left unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and ultimately meaningless. You’ll begin to start ignoring other important factors, all as a means to find an answer to these questions. You’ll hurt everyone, from the people working in your business to the people you live with at home.
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
-Colossians 3:17
Consider what it might look like to change those questions a bit:
What do I want to make money for?
What is the most valuable use of my time?
How can my career help push others forward?
Notice that the questions become less about the thing you’re gaining and more about why you’re doing it in the first place. Think about how your life can change when your work is less about how to get ahead and more about how to fulfill your greater purposes in life. As Christians, that greater purpose is to serve Christ in all that we do and to bring our faith into the workplace.
What greater meaning is there than to point others towards eternal life with Christ? When all the earthly money, projects, and positions of power are gone, Christ will be there in heaven, rejoicing with us for eternity. That’s a meaning worth living and working for.
