Jan 4, 2021
In the New Year, as people who follow Jesus, how are we to approach our jobs? Is our job just backdrop for our ministry, or should we treat our work as service to Jesus?
This passage is at the beginning of a few chapters of encouragement that God is giving the Jews. They've just been taken into captivity to Babylon. Some say these passages don't apply to Christians today, and maybe they're correct. I believe they do apply. This is not our home. We belong somewhere else. However today, we're ambassadors. We represent Jesus. And just like the Jews of that day, I believe these words are for us.
We should seek the welfare of the city where we are assigned, and pray to the Lord on its behalf. You know when someone else is with you. We realize when we're more committed to the success of an effort than our team members, and vice versa. If we long to get back out to our friends at church, more than we long to be part of the success of those we work with, we send a signal. We tell them they're not as important to us.
Do you pray for your city or your employer? Do you work for the best of those in your workplace or community? Do we look like tourists, or are we part of the place where we work?