Consider this: God's loving care for you comes to you largely through the labor of others. The chair you sit in, the car you drive, the food you eat. You did not make any of it. Instead, God created the raw materials, and people other than yourself took those raw materials and made something of them. Whether they realize it or not, through their work, however glorious or monotonous, God is loving you. 

Seen the other way around, one of the primary ways that God's love is expressed through you is through your work. Not just when you mention Jesus. Not just when your work is overtly Christian. And not just on the days when you pray without ceasing. No, simply by doing good and honorable work, God loves people through you. This is common grace - God's benevolent hand sustaining his creation whether we realize it or not. 

Here's why this is important: Often, Christians can fall into the dualism of thinking that their work only counts for God and pleases Christ if it is explicitly Christian, as if God was left delegated to a church gathering or confined to an ichthys symbol. Another, more insidious dimension of dualism is found when Christians only think of themselves as Christians within Church activities; that their Christian life is what they do on Sundays and maybe a weeknight group, but the rest of the week is theirs, to do with as they wish, uncritically accepting and living into their culture's underlying values & idolatries of individualism (it's all about me), materialism (I matter because of what I own), and so on. 

However, God is inviting us into a wholly integrated Christianity that tears down this sacred / secular divide; where we see Him not as the first of many items to check off on a list, but as the hub on the wheel that is our lives. It’s time to shed the residual guilt many of us carry around with us from day to day, that feels bad because we enjoy our work and don’t see how God’s connected to it, or that says "you should quit your day job and do something that really matters to God." 

What you do (everyday) matters to God. Don’t quit your day job. Shed the residual guilt and do good work. Perhaps you’ll see that God was there all along. 

This is obviously a much bigger conversation. Come to the Redeeming Work Seminar this Saturday, June 8th at New Day Nichols to hear more! $15 - includes lunch. Register at http://bit.ly/RedeemingWork2019