Work

Love you all, praying for you. 
 
What does God say about work?  Quite a lot.  Work is critically important.  God worked, He is working still – "My Father is always at work."  Work is part of the character and nature of God, it is what he designed for us.  God put Adam in the garden of Eden to work it.  One pastor noted, “God gave him a job before He gave him a wife.”  Work is intrinsic to life, sin didn’t cause work, it just made work more difficult.  Work was always God’s plan.  Work is what builds.  You can’t build anything without work.  Work has two parts.  What you do, and how you do it.  Some people don’t work very hard, so they don’t have much, or build much.  Other people work really hard, at the wrong thing – something God never told them to do…  God warned, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his own soul.  Work has an important place in life, and rest is just as important.  You work far more than you rest, 6:1 – but rest is what God designed to strengthen you.  It’s critical, not just for quality of life, but quality of relationships as well as it helps you work more effectively.  Those who understand work – build their life well, those who don’t - do not.  The most important part of work is what you do (discernment), and the most important part of that is who decides.  That’s why PIVAT is so important – giving up your plans – for His.  Know what God wants you to do (today, and every day), and your life will be full of meaning and purpose and progress… His purpose for you,.  It’s how He can fulfill it.  Then next most important part of work is the how - incisive… measuring not cutting, understanding, not just effort.  “Having the quality of cutting or separating the superficial part of anything.”  Measure twice, cut once.   It’s important to know God’s plan, what you were created to do, so you can do it with excellence, and do it with joy.  Not all work is fun, some things are just necessary - and timing is everything.  Work now, play later.  Play now, rest now, and you’ll never get around to working.  That’s why God says if a man will not work, neither should he eat.  Work - if you do it with God’s perspective, it can be an enjoyable thing, even when every part of it is not always enjoyable.  Start early, do the hardest thing first, but first know what God is calling you to do.  Hard work doesn’t help you without smart work.  Some people work on things that bring little result, and then, don’t have the energy or time left to work on what brings the most benefit.  Better to work at fixing the hole in the bottom of the boat, than to work at rearranging the deck furniture.  Some work brings result, other work just takes energy.  God’s wisdom is what you need – to distinguish between the two.  How quickly do you get to work?  You only make money if paint is going on the wall), not when you’re walking around thinking about where you’re going to start - do that the night before.  Be early – and you’ll have half your work already done, by the time others get around to getting started. Does your work reflect the priorities and the diligence of God? If you don’t know His plans for you – you’re working for nothing.  God says all hard work brings a profit, make sure you’re working on what He wants you to, and you know when He wants you to start, and finish today.   If you don’t know what He has for you today, and what is not for today – (but tomorrow, next week, or maybe never… Your work will be tiresome but not fruitful.  The most important thing about work is what God has for you.  PiVAT is critically important.  Then the next important thing is diligence.  When is He telling you to do it, and get to it!  Start early is better than staying late.  Some people work late, because they start late.  That’s not working hard, it’s just working when you should already be doing other equally important things.  Like investing in your marriage and your children.  Praying that you will know what God wants you to do, so your work makes a difference.  Praying that you will know His Word – which tells how to work most effectively, with wisdom and diligence.  Praying that you will know when to work, and when to stop working, so you can work on other things in life, that are every bit as important, and that help you work more effectively. Praying that you will love to work, that God will give you a job you love, that not everybody can do, that you would do even if you didn’t get paid, that pays enough to meet your needs, and a little extra to give hilariously.  And Praying that you will love your job, (this job) until God gives you that job that you love.  Praying that your work, will reflect your love and appreciation for Him.  Work is worship – if you work as unto the LORD.  Whatever you do,(that means not whatever you want to do, whatever God has given for you to do…  Do it with all your might, working for the LORD, not for men, knowing that (it is) from the LORD you will receive the reward of the inheritance, it is the LORD, Christ whom you serve.  That’s why you don’t work for money either, if you only work for money – you’ll judge work by the money.  God’s provision isn’t limited to your paycheck.  Do what you love to do, and you’ll make more over time, you’ll be diligent and resourceful in it.  And don’t refuse to work, just because the pay isn’t what you hoped.  You can work for free, or a dollar an hour – if God is telling you to do it, work for Him, and He’ll make sure you get paid.  If you don’t have a job right now, work for free, help serve someone else, but work…  That’s what God created you to do.  Praying that your work, will be a worship unto the LORD, that He will direct your work, both what and when, that you’ll ask Him, and that you will fully do what He told you to do – when it’s time… so you can do the next thing He has for you when your work day is over.  So you can invest in other things that will last for a lifetime, and last for eternity. Praying that you will work for Him, what He said and when, that you will do it with joy – the joy that comes from obedience, the joy that comes from Him.
 
Love you all,
dad