Hope Shack

How do you start your workday?

Do you punch a clock or use a timesheet?  A timeclock often triggers the start of a workday and sets the time spent on the job apart from the rest of our day.   How we approach our time to clock-in can be affected by how we feel about the working conditions, our bosses, or what’s going on at home.  What if we pause for a second to ask ourselves, How does our work fit into  God’s big picture of our life?  There are some tools that we have available to us as followers of Jesus Christ that can impact how we approach the start of our day.  Equipped with these tools, we can expand our “timeclock perspective” into something much richer and more meaningful.   Imagine, if you will, feeling a real sense of purpose and value as we start our day.  As we dig into this, let’s look at a passage from the Bible, and see if we can find some examples in the life Jesus led here on Earth.

The Kind of Life He Lived

^18-20 You who are servants, be good servants to your masters—not just to good masters, but also to bad ones. What counts is that you put up with it for God’s sake when you’re treated badly for no good reason. There’s no particular virtue in accepting punishment that you well deserve. But if you’re treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God.

^21-25 This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.

He never did one thing wrong,
Not once said anything amiss.

They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.  – (1 Peter 2:18-25 The Message)

These are God’s words written by a man named Peter.  Peter walked with Jesus while He was here on Earth, and was a personal witness to much of what Jesus suffered before He died.  He wrote this letter to servants and workers of that day to encourage them to endure.  While we may not be servants today, there are still many relevant points in this passage that will encourage us to approach our own work in a fresh way, regardless of how we feel about it, how much we need our income, or how worn out we feel.   Let’s explore this  together and try to uncover what God’s perspective on our work really is.

Listen to this Message

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 What is it you’re facing?  Nobody goes into battle alone.  We can stand with you.  Let us know in the comments below how we can pray for you, or by submitting your story.  

He will fight for you.

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