1 Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
2 It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones. (Psalm 127:1-2)
I’m always impressed by how much time we waste on things we deem important (Pokemon Go . . .just kidding). We work 40 plus hours a week on something that will ultimately be erased, or at best, make a small impact on the surrounding world. But I don’t think it has to be like this. The Psalmist had a proper perspective on work when he warns us of having our days controlled by career – even a good career. I fear that a lot of us worship work over our Lord, and favor busyness over intentionality. Perhaps we are scared of what we might find out if we simply move slower through our week. Alone with our minds, we might uncover the sad truth that we are not living up to our God given potential.
Jesus worked. Yet in Scripture, we hear little about his day job and much about times where he retreated to solitude at some of the most vibrant times of ministry. His work was not greater than his need to simply exist and take life in. If we were Christ, we would have pushed past these gentle calls to health, skipping over the feeding of the 5,000 in order to get more work done or simply ignoring the woman at the well so we could drink and be done.
In our rush to feel accomplished, how many of Jesus’ miracles do we miss?
Work is good. Work gives our lives direction and purpose. Yet, how boring a eulogy would it be to say “he was a good worker” “he met deadlines” or “she was married to her job”? Often these are the people who wish they would have spent more time pursuing their family and their Lord. There is toxic thought within the walls of the Church that Christ is against fun. The American Dream of work as identity and might makes right and has clouded our faith – a faith that tells us to come and rest.
Today, what are you working for? Is there balance? Are you taking the spiritual mandate to have fun seriously? Move slowly through your day. The papers, meetings, and agendas will never end, but someday you will. Take care of yourself and see work as holy.
Matt simon blog 