Imagine if the only Bible you had was the first two chapters. What would you determine the purpose of your life is based on just these two introductory chapters?
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1 [ESV])
The next 29 verses of Chapter 1 describe with beauty and majesty the One True God creating everything. God said, and it was so, and it was good… over and over and over. This is the refrain of creation.
And then, this declaration: “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31)
You were made to worship Creator God. When you see a beautiful sunrise, stand on the peak of a mountain, look in the face of a baby, look at the vast expanse of space through a telescope, and peer into the detailed intricacy of creation through a microscope it is all meant to draw you to worship Creator God.
But there’s more to see:
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.‘ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:26-27)
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Gen. 2:15)
God worked in creation. God made mankind in His image and likeness. And God placed the man in the garden to work and keep the Garden.
You were created to work. Since the fall in Genesis, Chapter 3, work has carried frustration, difficulty, and hardship. That’s why it’s so easy to hear “work” with only negative thoughts and feelings associated with it.
But in the beginning that was not the case. God works. God creates us to work. Work is good.
Our worship of God should fuel our work. Our work should fuel our worship. When we work at God-honoring things, God is honored. And we worship as a result.
In September of 2001, God called me into the Marine Corps. Serving for 10 years on active duty, including 3 tours into combat zones, was hard work. But when I remembered that God called me to this work for His good purposes, it fueled me to work well for Him and to see my work as an act of worship. When I failed to maintain this perspective, work became a grind in which all I could see were the thorns and thistles of the fall.
In the Fall of 2010, God called me to leave the Marine Corps and start a church. Again, more hard work. A very different kind of difficult, but difficult nonetheless. And yet, when I start each day with worship, my work is fueled. When I work heartily to the Lord each day, I am able to end each day in worship: “Thank you Lord for sustaining me today. Cause my feeble efforts to produce the good fruit that You desire. Now Lord, grant me the peaceful sleep of the righteous even though I don’t deserve it.“
You were made for community. You were made to work and worship alongside other humans.
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Gen. 2:18)
The helper fit for the first man was another human being. Yes, the helper was a woman and yes, she was his wife. But first and foremost she was another human being.
As image-bearers of God, we are made for community with other image-bearers.
Therefore, when we worship, we not only worship individually, but we are called to gather together and worship with other humans.
And when we work, as difficult and frustrating as other humans can be, we are to work with other people. We are to build churches and teams and companies and non-profit organizations where people can come together and do great work together.
Where do you need to reset? Are you living a life of worship? Are you working as a result of and fuel for worship? Are you genuinely engaged in worship and work with other people? Today is the day to turn from wherever you have gone wrong on these fronts and walk anew in the life God has for you.
I love you guys,
Brian O’Day
Did you Like this Article? Subscribe!
You May also Like…
PCS Well: Moving in a God-Honoring, You-Flourishing Way
My friend, Joshua, has a saying, “The military is a fasttrack to maturity.” I am convinced that if you engage with the Lord and His purposes for you in this military life, that statement will indeed ring true. The PCS (Permanent Change of Station) offers an amazing opportunity to accelerate your spiritual maturity if you…
Be Where You Are: Finding Peace in the Present
What is the best duty station in the military? “The one I just came from.” What is the worst duty station in the military? “The one where I am.” When will all my problems be solved? “In the next place.” The temptation to think this way creeps up on all of us. It typically starts…
Seek the Welfare of Your New City: PCS Well
But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29:7 [ESV]) The words above are from the Lord to His people who are in exile in a foreign city. He tells them, through his…
Brian O'Day 