Tons of work to do! That’s my feeling this Monday morning, and yesterday’s Old Testament reading adds to the weight. “Cursed is the ground because of you… thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you… By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:17-19). Ugh!
I wondered how Jesus went about His work. He too was pressured. “Everyone is looking for you!” (Mark 1:37). “They had no leisure even to eat” (Mark 6:31). Although the work tired Jesus (so much that one time He slept through a storm, Mark 4:38), yet He was determined. “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:4-5). Jesus had come to jump into Adam’s workaday life, to be light amidst the thorns and thistles of our work.
Remember, we’re trying to get revved up for work. From Philippians: “It is God who works in you, both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life” (2:13-15). See the theme of light?
Much will remain undone when tonight comes, a reminder we’re saved by grace, not works. So, “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men… You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24).
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