What are You Doing?

In Colossians 3:23-24 we read, “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.”

Whatever you are doing, do your best. Keep in mind that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.

While driving near Detroit, there was a billboard that read, Fired and Focused. Are you fired and focused? As a Christian, you are fired because of the Holy Spirit working in you—the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is in you to work.

Work is a gift from God. Work is healthy, and work gives us great contentment and satisfaction, and a purpose in living. There are nights I lay awake thinking of what I want to do for work. I get accelerated and energized and I often wish it were morning to begin to work. Work is honorable and Biblical. Are you a child of God? Then, you are like God. And God is always working.

God’s work is beyond our capacity to see or know. On a road trip through Canada and Alaska, the beauty of His handiwork was beyond my human praises. But the greatest work God did for me was to give His son to die on the cross for my forgiveness, freedom, and eternity. And now God is still at work with me—firing me to focus on His work. Work is love and work is joy.

We are also encouraged to work, because the night is coming when no man can work. Jesus is working now to return to come and get us. We have an urgent assignment to work.

To be focused, there will be times you will have to say no to some good work, because there is a special call and purpose in your life. Saying no empowers you to do the best work—the call of God. And you can only work with the power of God enabling you to work—that is you in Him, according to John 15:4: “Apart from Me, you can do nothing!”

Have you ever watched someone who loved their work? Gloria, our former Colegio Nueva Vida director in the Dominican Republic, loved her work. At some seasons she arrived before daylight, and many nights left after dark. God focused her on the lives of hundreds of students. These students are like her trophies—now pastors, preachers, doctors, nurses, and teachers. Another woman, Sister Ann in Haiti, has been a cook for one of our mission schools for more than 25 years. Her big smile, cooking 10-gallon pots of tasty food, has motivated a multitude of children to come to school and have the nutritional stability to achieve and thrive.

Your works will never be forgotten. Revelation 14:13 tells us that after our death, our works will be remembered. Your work now is recorded for eternity. You can work, because God will give you the strength and grace for the lousy days to keep working until our work is finished. Now is the time to work fired and focused.~Jeanne DeTellis Loudon

P.S. On Saturday, September 7, at 10:05 a.m., my father, Charles DiPietro, age 101, gave me a cute smile and went home to be with the Lord. When he could no longer work, he did his greatest work by loving and trusting Jesus.