Here are a couple of afterthoughts as we studied chapter three of Nehemiah last Sunday. Work is a common theme throughout the entire book of Nehemiah and the noun work recurs again and again (2:16; 2:18; 3:5; 4:11; 4:15; 4:16-17; 4:19; 4:21; 5:16; 6:3; 6:9; 6:16). Most people reduce work down to what they get paid to do vocationally. When the Bible speaks of work it has in view much more than money or gain. We might define work as any exertion of effort that aims at producing a new state of affairs. This exertion will by necessity require our unique wiring and talents. This is exciting because all work can actually be sacred if done unto the Lord. We live in culture that has been taught to compartmentalize their lives…we have separated the sacred from the secular, when in reality as a believer all that we do (if done unto the Lord) is considered sacred. Why? Not because of our might, our efforts or our work in itself, but because of our union with Christ.
Because Christ is holy, we too are holy, because God declared us righteous upon our belief in the Good News: Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:3-5). Paul said this is of first importance. So, because Christ is sacred and all His work is sacred, then through our union with him, all that we do can actually bring glory to him (1 Cor. 10:31). Just as our sin does not make us sinful, so also our good works do not make us righteous. We sin because we are sinful, therefore we do our work unto the Lord because He is righteous. That is good news for all who are not vocational ministers. Most view my work as a pastor as holy because I am a pastor, when in reality, the same divine energema (energy) that God gives me to fulfill my vocation as pastor is the same divine energema that he gives to all who work a different vocational job…homemaking, sweeping snow, obeying orders, practicing for a performance, building websites, serving coffee, teaching school, upper level management, middle management, etc.
Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. Because we have been bought with a price we are to glorify God with our bodies. Paul also encourages us to give ourselves (not our work) as living sacrifices which are holy and acceptable (because of Christ’s work) to God. That means I can wake up everyday and present myself as a sacrifice to God. I don’t have to offer a burnt offering or a blood sacrifice. I can present the members of my body (those parts we need to perform our work) as a pleasing, sacred sacrifice to God. I should wake up with the intent to work hard as doing my work for Him and His kingdom.
Meditate upon these words that Paul wrote for our instruction.
Romans 12:1-3 (Phillips NT) 1 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity. 2 3 As your spiritual teacher I give this piece of advice to each one of you. Don't cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all. For just as you have many members in one physical body and those members differ in their functions, so we, though many in number, compose one body in Christ and are all members of one another. Through the grace of God we have different gifts. If our gift is preaching, let us preach to the limit of our vision. If it is serving others let us concentrate on our service; if it is teaching let us give all we have to our teaching; and if our gift be the stimulating of the faith of others let us set ourselves to it. Let the man who is called to give, give freely; let the man who wields authority think of his responsibility; and let the man who feels sympathy for his fellows act cheerfully.
We can see from these verses, as we simply give ourselves as holy and living sacrifices, we have our minds renewed to the TRUTH that transforms us. Also we can break free of the ‘rat race’ of the world and truly understand what God’s will for our life is. Also, we are too walk in humility as we use our talents to glorify God. The Psalmist tells us to ‘delight ourselves in the Lord and he will give us the desires of our heart’ (Psalm 37:4). That means as we delight in Him, He will birth inside of us His desires and thus we are able to fulfill His will in the earth, all the while effecting change upon our world… Bryan Schwartz
