WORK
12th Oct 2016
As I write this we are in Australia with our family having a fantastic time, camping by the sea, having fun with the grandkids, catching up with our son and his wife, and as with previous visit there is always a project - work. One time we took 40 feet off a large mango tree, and another time built steps onto the decking, and now we are relocating an outside shade cover. It is fun, and I always enjoy the projects my son lines up.
This set me thinking about work. John 5:17 says, “Jesus said to them, My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” Work is a blessing, it gives us a goal and focus to our lives, it helps other people, and provides us an income to support our family and to bless others. The first thing God gave to Adam was a garden to tend and animals to name. There seems to be too much focus these days on leisure and work can be seen as a burden.
Jesus came to do the works of His Father. Those works were to heal the sick, save the lost, reach out to the lonely and give people a hope and a future. When Jesus comes into our life, He commissions us to share in the same works to which He was called.
John 14:12 says, “Anyone who has faith in me will do the works I have been doing. He will do even greater things because I am going to my Father.” As believers, our work is to do the works that Jesus did. This is one of the most challenging verses in the Bible, but if we will believe it we will see the greater things.
Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
God lives in you, let Him do His works through you, it is not self effort, for God is the worker. Carry Him into situations where He can act.
by Charles Sibthorpe
