Today’s Verse

John 6:27

“But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” (NLT)

What has God placed in front of you today?

I once heard a story of a man who worked a job he hated. He didn’t like anything about it—the tasks, the people, the place… but it brought in money, so he kept at it. Every day, he would spend his energy dreaming up what he would accomplish if only his life looked different. If I had a better job, I’d have all the money I want to live in luxury. One day, he was approached by an intelligence agency, who offered to hire him in exchange for any inside information he could get on his coworkers, in order to prove money laundering or some such illegal activities suspected inside that company. 

Suddenly, he started paying attention to his work, listening to conversations, and seeing the people in his workplace. He performed the exact same tasks, with the exact same people, in the exact same place. And yet, his perspective changed completely. Finally, he was excited to get up and go to work every day.

Years later, I heard, this man came to know Jesus. He said that he could look back on his life and see a marked difference in his work ethic once he was hired by the intelligence agency. But once he came to know Christ? Phew, there is no doubt—this man has been excited to get to work every day since! Not even working for the intelligence agency, operating as an undercover agent, compares to how Jesus changed his perspective on work. I so wish I could link this story to share with you other details, but I can’t seem to find it. Is it true? I think so. But even if it isn’t—let us take it as a parable of sorts. 

Has anything changed about your work ethic since you came to know Jesus?

Laundry, making the bed, cooking dinner, and many other tasks are a revolving door of work, seemingly eternal in their persistence. But… maybe there’s a point in that. Friend, something changes when you shift your mindset to an eternal perspective—no matter what happens, no work is futile so long as it is done to glorify God.

John 6:27 says, “But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of His approval.” Don’t wait for the perfect job to spend your energy honoring our Creator. In fact, get an imperfect job and do it to the glory of God anyway. Complete that spreadsheet to the best of your abilities, think ahead about improvements you can suggest for increasing the efficiency of a process, teach your children to love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

God has given you what is in front of you—don’t get distracted by wishing life looked different. Pray about it, give it to Jesus, and serve those around you to the best of your ability and demonstrate, even in some small way, the radical love of Jesus Christ.

REFLECTION

Think about your day-to-day life. Are there ways you can re-focus your efforts by remembering that Jesus is greater than the troubles of this world? Spend some time praying that the Lord would reveal to you ways you can shift to an eternal, Kingdom-centric mindset.