Scripture Reference: Colossians 1:9-10

If God cares about our lives, he must care about our work, unless he ignores one of the biggest parts of our lives. But many practicing Christians wouldn’t say they have a clear sense of God’s calling on their lives.

Is your daily work a high calling? Yes, indeed, because it is one main way you respond to the calling of God. But your work is not your highest calling. The call to any job or workplace should be rooted first in the supreme call to belong to Jesus and participate in God’s redemption of the world.

This is true no matter what your work entails. It’s true if you’re an entrepreneur or a student, a lineworker or a mother, a pastor or a soccer coach. Christ’s redemptive work encompasses everything necessary to make the world what God always intended it to be: full of mercy, love, justice, creativity and provision. Through your work, you are able to respond to the highest calling of your life. And in this response, your work becomes, as the saying goes, a high calling.

Over the course of the next 13 weeks, we’ll examine what the Bible says about discerning calling and give practical tips for exploring your own calling.

Video: Watch the short video “How do work and faith connect?” with author Leigh McLeroy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVdMQSSmoTI

Prayer: Jesus, thank you that you call me to follow you in every area of my life, including work. Thank you for helping me see that everything I do, including my work, can be a response to your calling. May my work be an expression of my gratitude and faithfulness. May I seek to honor you in everything in my work life.

Today, I pray for those who are wondering how they should work, for those looking for a job, for those wondering about a career change. Guide them, Lord, into work that allows them to use their gifts in service to others and to you. Help them to see their work as a high calling, a fitting response to the highest calling of all. Amen.

Author: Theology of Work Project

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Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.