Beginnings: Created by God and for GodSample

The King of Queens, a popular television sitcom in the early 2000s, followed Doug Heffernan, played by Kevin James, who worked as a delivery man for a parcel delivery service. In one episode, he reflected on the nature of his work and mused that there was no grand purpose in delivering boxes. You, too, may feel that there is no purpose in what you do every day. But God had something else in mind when he created work. He intended your work to be fulfilling and soul-satisfying.

Taking another look at the first chapter of Genesis informs us on how we should under- stand our careers and vocations. God tells Adam to be fruitful and multiply—a task he’ll only be able to do with the help of his wife, Eve—and then says, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28).

Adam is given an amazing responsibility from God. He is to bring order to (subdue) and have dominion (rule) over every created thing God has made. From the beginning, God set up his world to function through the work of the men and women he created. He didn’t create a mechanized universe arbitrarily controlled from the heavens. He chose to exercise his control of the world through the work of people.

Genesis 2 reveals a bit more about the nature of this work. God didn’t simply place Adam in a garden and tell him to eat some good food, relax, and take a nap. Instead, God put him in the garden to “work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15). Work has been a part of God’s story from the beginning. Like marriage, sexuality, gender, and children, work is not a result of human sin. We will see that work is more difficult because sin is in the picture—it will require toil and sweat to get the job done (see Genesis 3:18–19). But this doesn’t mean work is evil.

You might be in a job that doesn’t line up with how you are wired. You may think it is a meaningless dead end. If that describes you, there are a couple of aims for this lesson. The first is that you will be able to identify your unique wiring and put yourself on track to move toward that role as a vocation. The second is that you would see opportunities, even if you are frustrated in your current job, to give God glory in it.

We all have a role to play, and that role is a part of a bigger story. We have no idea how our work today may impact the future, but everything we do is a part of God’s bigger, mostly unseen plan. Parents don’t know the impact their kids and grandkids will have. Plumbers don’t know who might live in one of their houses and the impact those homeowners will have on the world. Writers don’t know who is reading their work and what it will accomplish.

Scripture tells us that “whatever” we do, we should do for the glory of God. You may be struggling with your calling. You may feel that what you are doing is insignificant. You may be wondering, “Where do I start?” The best place to start is with what is in front of you—to get up every day and say, “Whatever I do today, I am going to do it for God and his glory.”

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Colossians 3:23–24

The overall mission of God is to fill the earth with his glory. He wants everyone, everywhere, to know how great he is. His plan to accomplish this mission is to create unique image-bearers who can scatter into all the world and represent him.

This scattering can, and does, happen geographically. God’s people live in Bangladesh, Istanbul, New York, Santo Domingo . . . all around the earth . . . and it happens as God’s people scatter into their vocations in these cities.

Some become lawyers, teachers, plumbers, or politicians. Mission, rightly understood, involves anything God’s people do to bring order, exercise leadership, or foster creativity in the places they live in such a way that God’s glory is seen and people worship him.

While you might think you are wasting your life at your job, remember that you can be in this job on a mission for however long you might work there. If you know Jesus, God has positioned your life to declare and demonstrate his glory through whatever work you put your hands to doing.

Respond

Describe your occupation.

Has God called you to this vocation? How does he receive glory through your work or workday?

Prayer

Almighty God, thank you for the opportunity to represent you in the workplace and to show others your love and care for them.