Publisher’s Points to Ponder:

Publisher’s Points to Ponder:

Work as Worship

It is 6 a.m. as I sit in the office writing this week’s article. While getting prepared to work finalize the next issue, I laughed at my attempt to avoid working on Sundays. I vowed that I would not work on Sundays anymore. And here I am. Sitting in the office. Working.

Before preparing to leave the office for church, I returned to my desk to finish this PTP article. Just as I began to resent myself for another failed attempt at avoiding work on Sundays, I felt the presence of God fill my inner being. In His presence I started believing that my WORK isn’t really work; It is ministry. My work is a labor of love, and it is how I honor God who is first in my life and the center of my life.

It is a blessing to have a Sabbath day where we can honor God through fellowship with other believers. However, some people don’t have the luxury of attending church on Sundays because he or she may be required to work. These are the people who serve at the restaurants we eat at after church; The people who cash us out at the store that we stop at on the way home from church; The people who are caregivers and unable to slip away to sit within earshot of a sermon or a prayer. As believers, let’s lift these people up in our prayers while we show gratitude for the place we have on the pew.

If you are one of the people who must work on Sundays, don’t be so critical of yourself. Keep in mind that our work is an act of worship to God. I love the way work as worship is described on www.CrossWalk.com. They use the biblical story about Jesus using Peter’s boat to preach to the crowd while Peter, Andrew, James and John cleaned their fishing nets. The point of the story is that Jesus used Peter’s boat as a pulpit. Without asking for permission, he boards the boat and begins to preach. The writer uses the boat as a metaphor stating that our boat is where we spend our day, make our living and to a large degree live our lives. “The taxi you drive, the horse stable you clean, the dental office you manage, the family you feed and transport—this is your boat,” and all boats belong to Christ. Considering this, the writer points out that “You don’t drive to an office; you drive to a sanctuary. You don’t attend a school; you attend a temple.”

Colossians 3:17 (ERV) “Everything you say and everything you do should be done for Jesus your Lord. And in all you do, give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.