Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the ExodusDevotional: 6 of 7On the sixth day, [the Israelites] gathered twice as much [manna]—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest.’” (Exodus 16:22-23)This is the first time Sabbath rest is offered to human beings in the Bible. Contrary to the Israelites’ ruthless Egyptian masters who offered them no rest for 400 years, their perfect Heavenly Master offered them the gift of rest once every seven days. And he promised to provide the manna they needed for two days so that they could rest without worry!The announcement of this gift undoubtedly led to great jubilation. And yet, Exodus 16:27 tells us that “some of the people went out on the seventh day,” to work. In her terrific study on Exodus, Jen Wilkin explains why, saying that while God had gotten his people out of slavery, he had yet to get the slavery out of his people who fell back into non-stop work due to four centuries' worth of habit.That’s likely what kept the Israelites from resting. But this morning, I want you to consider what might be keeping you from Sabbath rest. Chances are, it’s one of these three lies.Lie #1: Sabbath is irrelevant under the New Covenant. It is true that Sabbath is the only one of the Ten Commandments not repeated in the New Testament. “But even so,” says John Mark Comer, “the Sabbath still stands as wisdom. There isn’t a command in the New Testament to eat food or drink water or sleep eight hours a night. That’s just wisdom…You can skip the Sabbath — it’s not sin.” But it’s also not wise.Lie #2: More work equals more productivity. Not necessarily. When the Israelites went to gather manna on the Sabbath, Exodus 16:27 says “they found none.” Similarly, Dr. John Pencavel of Stanford has found that our productive “output falls sharply after a 50-hour work-week, and falls off a cliff after 55 hours.” It’s almost as if God has designed us for a full day of rest once a week…Lie #3: I’m not a slave. Tim Keller says, “Anyone who cannot obey God’s command to observe the Sabbath is a slave, even a self-imposed one.” Do you feel that you have to check email every day? If your phone buzzes, do you pick it up without even thinking? You’re more of a slave than you think. Sabbath is one way to declare that, through Christ, you are free from the pressures of this world. And it’s also a gift that God invites you to enjoy (see Mark 2:27). Accept that gift this and every week!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the ExodusDevotional: 5 of 7Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. (Exodus 8:1 ESV)A few weeks ago, we saw that it was the horrific working conditions of the Israelites that was the impetus for their exodus from Egypt. But if we’re not careful, we can mistakenly believe that God freed his people so that they could spend all their time worshiping him through song and sacrifices in the wilderness.But that’s not at all what we see. Seven times between Exodus 4:23 and 10:3, the Lord states his purpose for delivering his people. Over and over again he declares, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” Commenting on this passage, one theologian says that “God did not deliver Israel from work. He set Israel free for work.” But work as he had originally intended it. This sets up a theme we see throughout Scripture: Salvation isn’t an end in itself. It is a means to an end—namely being with God and working for his glory rather than the glory of man.That’s why God saved the Israelites, and it’s why he has saved you and me. This is precisely what Paul is getting at in Ephesians 2:8-10 when he says that while we are saved “not by works,” we have been saved “to do good works”—not to just sit around and wait for Christ’s return.Can I be real for a second? This is what drives me absolutely crazy about the (largely) American End Times industry. Rather than busying themselves with the “good works…God prepared in advance for us to do,” many Christians spend their days sharing fear-mongering Facebook posts speculating about the details of Christ’s second coming—all in the name of Jesus’s command to “keep watch” for his return in Matthew 25:13.But the context of that passage is crucial. Immediately after he instructed his disciples to “keep watch,” Jesus launched into the “Parable of the Talents,” the story of a Master (representing Christ) who puts his servants to work while they wait for his return (see Matthew 25:14-30). From the Old Testament to the New, God couldn’t be any clearer: We aren’t saved to sit on our hands, but to work with them. The good news of the gospel is not just that you get to go to heaven when you die, but that you get to partner with God in cultivating heaven on earth until you die.How? By weeding out the injustices you see in your industry. By creating businesses, films, and novels that offer glimpses of the beauty of the kingdom. And by serving as a faithful ambassador of your king in your place of work (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-20). Work hard to those ends as a response to your salvation today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the ExodusDevotional: 4 of 7Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you” (Exodus 7:1-2)God could have set the Israelites free all on his own. He could have taken human form, walked straight into Pharaoh’s palace, and led the Israelites out of Egypt for good. But that wasn’t his strategy as today’s passage makes clear. The Lord said to Moses, “I have made you like God to Pharaoh.” In other words, while God could have done this work on his own, he chose to do it through Moses and Aaron. Why? Was it because God had more important things to do? No. It’s simply because this is how God has always chosen to operate. All throughout Scripture, we see that while God is perfectly capable of working on his own, more often than not, he chooses to work in this world through human beings. That was true with Moses thousands of years ago, and it’s true with you and me today. In the words of Tim Keller, “We are called to stand in for God here in the world…as his vice-regents.” His deputy kings and queens. This is precisely what Paul was getting at in 2 Corinthians 5:20 when he calls you and me “Christ’s ambassadors.” Think about the role ambassadors play on behalf of nations today. They themselves are not sovereign. But they stand in for and represent the sovereign and the values of their kingdom.So it is with God and his kingdom. One of the purposes of our work is to “stand in for God” and be what James Davison Hunter calls a “faithful presence” for him in our places of work. To be “like God,” not to Pharaoh but to our bosses, co-workers, and customers.What does this look like practically? It means exposing evil in our companies and industries (see Ephesians 5:11), “making [God’s] appeal” of salvation to the non-Christians we work with (see 2 Corinthians 5:20), and working “heartily, as unto the Lord” knowing that it is through our work that God feeds, heals, clothes, protects, and helps the world (see Colossians 3:23).The purpose of your work is so much bigger than providing for your needs or fulfillment. You wear what Martin Luther called “the masks of God,” standing in for him in your small corner of creation. Stand in as a bold, joyful, and faithful representative of him today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the ExodusDevotional: 3 of 7“So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10)God just said he would free the Israelites from their oppressive work conditions in Egypt, which undoubtedly brought Moses great joy. After all, he once killed a guy for the way he treated an Israelite worker (see Exodus 2:11-12). But what God said next broke Moses’s grin: “I am sending you,” Moses, to do this work. Exodus 3:11 - 4:10 records four excuses Moses makes for why he’s not the right person for this job. Today, I want to look at two of those excuses we borrow all the time to avoid doing the hard things God calls us to do.Excuse #1: I’m not qualified! Immediately after hearing God’s words in today’s passage, Moses said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11) to which God replies, “I will be with you” (see Exodus 3:11-12). In other words, “You aren’t the point, Moses. ‘I AM.’ I don’t need you to be qualified. I need you to be willing to let me work through you.”The same is true with you and me, believer. Maybe God’s calling you to speak up to your boss about an offensive comment he made to someone who doesn’t have as much political capital at work as you do. It can be easy to say, “Who am I to have that conversation?” But if God is calling you to do it, you can do so boldly knowing that he is with you.Excuse #2: I don’t have all the answers! Exodus 3:13 records Moses as saying to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” Essentially, Moses is saying, “I don’t have all the answers, God!”We use this excuse all the time—especially when it comes to sharing our faith. To be clear, you should know God’s Word well enough to “be prepared to give an answer…for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15) But you also have to realize that you’ll never have all the answers to all the questions. Which is probably why, after commanding his followers to “make disciples,” Jesus reassured them by saying, “I am with you always.” And if he is with us, we can trust that he will give us the answers we need, when we need them.What excuses are keeping you from doing the thing God has called you to do in your work today? Ask God to reveal the answer and prepare your heart to step out in obedience despite your reservations.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the ExodusDevotional: 2 of 7The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians. (Exodus 3:7-8a)We’re in a seven-week series extracting wisdom for our work from the exodus, and in today’s passage, we find the impetus and trigger for this monumental event: Work! Or to be more specific, the horrible working conditions of God’s people.The Egyptians had “made [the Israelites’] lives bitter with harsh labor…[and] worked them ruthlessly” (Exodus 1:14), screaming “Get back to your work!” (Exodus 5:4), and, “Make the work harder” (Exodus 5:9). So God’s people “groaned in their slavery....and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God” (Exodus 2:23).And as today’s passage shows us, God heard the cry of his people and acted decisively. The ability of God’s image-bearers to do good work is so important to him that he sent ten brutal plagues and parted the Red Sea in order to free his people.Now, our work today can not compare to the enslavement of the Israelites. But we do deal with less severe “thorns and thistles” of the curse nonetheless (see Genesis 3:17-19). We are forced to put up with non-stop emails that distract us from our families, verbally abusive customers and bosses, and rising costs of living without corresponding increases in income.It can be tempting to think that God is indifferent to these struggles—that he’s got bigger things to worry about than whatever is frustrating you at work today. But the exodus shows us that’s not the case. As one theologian said commenting on today’s passage, "Work, and the conditions under which it is performed, is a matter of the highest concern to God."In light of that truth, how should we respond to the frustrations we face at work? In three ways.First, cry out to God for help like the Israelites did, knowing he hears your lament.Second, fight to improve the job conditions of those you work with, especially if you lead a team. The exodus reminds us that working to make your organization’s culture more equitable, peaceful, and enjoyable isn’t “secular.” It is God-ordained work.Finally, when you encounter frustrations at work today, look forward to when God will “come down to rescue” all of his people and put us to work on the New Earth where we will “long enjoy the work of our hands” (see Isaiah 65:22).

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the ExodusDevotional: 1 of 7The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. (Exodus 1:15-17)The midwives in today’s passage play a starring role in Exodus 1. What can Shiphrah and Puah teach us about our work today? At least two things.First, that God uses the nobodies of this world to do his work. To fully appreciate this truth, we must understand the context of today’s passage. The King of Egypt (AKA Pharaoh) had a problem. In Exodus 1:9-10 he’s quoted as saying, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us….we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”Pharaoh’s solution is the mandate we see him hand down in today’s passage: Kill all the Hebrew boys. Why? Because they were the ones who would “fight against” Egypt. Girls posed no threat to Pharaoh, and thus, they meant nothing to him. But they meant a great deal to God. Because it is five women that God uses to thwart Pharaoh’s plans: Shiphrah, Puah, and as we see in Exodus 2, Moses’s mother, sister, and the daughter of Pharaoh.Have you ever felt looked down upon at work because of your gender, race, or where you did or didn’t go to school? Know that God sees you, values you, and can use your work for his mighty purposes.Here’s the second thing these Hebrew midwives teach us: God remembers the faithful but not necessarily the famous. Before Moses wrote the words of today’s passage very few people knew Shiphrah and Puah’s names, but everyone knew Pharaoh’s. And yet, in the eternal Word of God, Pharaoh’s given name isn’t mentioned. You see, while Pharaoh was certainly famous in his day, he was an enemy of God, and thus his name has been erased from the history books. But while Shiphrah and Puah were nobodies in their day, their faithfulness to God’s commands ensured that the history books and God himself will remember their names forever.Hebrews 6:10 tells us that “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” God didn’t forget Shiphrah and Puah’s faithful work, and he won’t forget yours, believer. Regardless of how obscure your work is today, know that the Lord sees your faithfulness, will reward it, and will remember it for eternity.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Christmas Vocations Part IIDevotional: 4 of 4For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. (Isaiah 9:6a)We’re in a four-week series exploring the vocations of some of the characters of Christmas. This morning, we come to the principal of the nativity scene: Jesus himself.Now, you may be thinking, Hold up a minute, Jordan, this is a series on “Christmas Vocations” and Jesus didn’t yet have a vocation lying there in the manger. That is precisely what I want you and I to focus on today. While Jesus would one day hold vocations as a carpenter, preacher, and king, for the first years of his life he had no work. Instead, the Creator chose to be entirely dependent on the work of his creatures. Theologian J.I. Packer marveled at this truth saying that “the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child.”Do you see the absurdity of this scene? Jesus could have come into the world as a full-grown, independent man. But Christmas reminds us that he chose to rely on the work of a mother to clothe him, innkeepers to shelter him, educators to teach him, cooks to feed him, and a carpenter to train him.And just as God chose to use human work to carry out his plans for his son two thousand years ago, he chooses to use human work to carry out his Son’s plans for the world today. Jesus promised to provide food, shelter, and clothes to those who “seek first his kingdom” (see Matthew 6:25-34). How is he doing that? Through the work of chefs, construction workers, and clothing retailers. Jesus said he came “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). How is he doing that? By “making his appeal through us,” mere Christians who work alongside non-believers (see 2 Corinthians 5:11-21).God could do all of this work on his own. But he chooses to do it through you and me. Which is why Paul calls us “God’s co-workers” (see 1 Corinthians 3:9). Your job isn’t just a job. It’s not just a path to income. It is nothing less than the medium through which God feeds, clothes, sustains, reconciles, and renews the world. Thank him for the privilege of inviting you to work with and for him this year!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Christmas Vocations Part IIDevotional: 3 of 4So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. (Luke 2:16)Since our first date 16 years ago, my wife Kara and I go to the historic Tampa Theatre every December to see It’s a Wonderful Life. And even though the film is more than 75 years old, the theater is packed every year. Why? Because the movie’s protagonist, George Bailey, encapsulates a timeless desire of the human heart to do work that matters.If you haven’t seen the film, here’s the gist. George Bailey was raised in the small town of Bedford Falls, but he dreamed of doing “something big, something important.” But life got in the way and George remained stuck in his hometown working an obscure job he saw little purpose in. It took a literal miracle for him to see just how impactful his life and work had been.Scripture tells us nothing about who made the manger Jesus slept in his first night on earth. But I’m willing to bet he felt much like George Bailey. He probably spent years hammering away at mangers and other works of wood doubting that any of it mattered beyond putting food on his family’s table. And yet God chose the work of this craftsman’s hands to hold the Creator of the world.One of the most stunning promises in Scripture is that “your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). That term “labor in the Lord” means far more than the “spiritual” tasks of evangelism and prayer. The New Living Translation says it means any work we do “for the Lord.” Commenting on this passage, New Testament scholar N.T. Wright says, “What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future.”That sounds incredible, but sometimes it can be difficult to see how. It’s comforting to me that even the great Apostle Paul doubted the significance of his work. In 1 Thessalonians 3:5, he admitted, “I was afraid that…our labors might have been in vain.” And yet he still wrote 1 Corinthians 15:58 assuring himself and his readers of God’s promise.You see, this is an act of faith. Even when we can’t see how, we trust that God will use everything we do for him—even something as seemingly insignificant as nailing together a manger—for his glory and our good. Have faith in that promise today, believer. Bask in the knowledge that everything you do “for the Lord” will reverberate throughout eternity!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Christmas Vocations Part IIDevotional: 2 of 4After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed. (Matthew 2:1-3) Those last words are one of the great understatements in all of Scripture. Herod was more than “disturbed” by the news of Jesus. He was apoplectic because this new “king of the Jews” represented a direct threat to his throne.Herod knew there can only be one king in a kingdom. Either you are on the throne or someone else is. There is no in-between—no compromise whatsoever. Which is why, after hearing of this threat to his career, Herod unleashed one of the most grotesque campaigns of violence in history (see Matthew 2:16). But Herod isn’t the only king we see in today’s passage. We’re also introduced to the Magi—the “three kings of Orient are” we sing about every Christmas. While Herod responds to Jesus the King with ruthless violence, the Magi display the polar opposite response: total and complete worship (see Matthew 2:11).Two sets of kings. Two totally different responses. The question, of course, is how do you and I respond to the newborn king? Certainly not like Herod. But I’m not sure we respond like the Magi either. Our temptation is to profess faith in Christ but not make him the true Lord of our lives. We want Jesus as a consultant, but not really as king. Because if he is king, then you and I are no longer our own.How do you know if Jesus is your consultant at work instead of your king? I could list dozens of signs, but here are just five I think you and I struggle with the most:You ask Jesus to approve your plans, rather than guide your imagination and planning from the get-goYou rarely show allegiance to your King and talk openly about your faith with your co-workersYou consult Google and industry gurus more than God’s Word and his Holy Spirit when making hard decisionsYou embellish the truth about how well things are going at work for fear of bruising your pride if you were obedient to God’s call to truthfulnessYou’d rather be seen as tolerant and loving than holy and loyal to your KingFeeling convicted? Welcome to the club. Here’s the good news: You and I have a king who “is faithful and just to forgive” when we try to stage a coup against his kingship (see 1 John 1:9). Thank him for his forgiveness today! And may his grace and mercy lead us to be even more intentional about keeping the One True King as the sole occupier of the throne of our lives and work.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Christmas Vocations Part IIDevotional: 1 of 4[Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7 KJV)It may surprise you to learn that the infamous “innkeeper” of the nativity is never explicitly mentioned in Scripture. But clearly, someone had to deliver the news to Mary and Joseph that there was “no room for them in the inn.”What can we learn from this nameless hotelier? At least two things.First, God often chooses to reveal himself to us at work. Whoever this innkeeper was, they were undoubtedly swamped that first Christmas Eve as a census brought an influx of travelers to Bethlehem (see Luke 2:1-3). You can imagine the innkeeper rushing to check people in and clean out rooms, just trying to keep his or her head above water. That’s when God literally showed up on the innkeeper’s doorstep. God didn’t meet the innkeeper in the temple but at their place of work, which is one of the most common places we see God showing up all throughout Scripture (see Matthew 4:18-22, Exodus 3:1-2, and 1 Samuel 16:11-12). You see, work isn’t a distraction from “the things of the Lord.” It’s where the Lord often meets us if we are willing to be aware of his presence. How? By setting a reminder to pray at a specific time during your workday, writing a verse near your desk, or attaching a reminder of God’s presence to a physical activity in your office (for more on this last one, listen to this clip from Skye Jethani).Here’s the second thing the innkeeper teaches us about our work: The minute we invite Jesus inside, our secular workplace instantly becomes sacred. The innkeeper wasn’t a priest or religious professional and was probably tempted to view his or her work as “secular.” But on that first Christmas Eve, the innkeeper couldn’t have been more wrong.Why? Because “secular” literally means “without God.” Had the innkeeper welcomed Joseph, Mary, and Jesus into their lobby, God would have quite literally been with them and that secular place of work would have instantly been made sacred the moment Mary’s belly crossed the threshold.The same is true of you today, believer. Don’t believe for one second that your workplace is secular just because your company makes widgets instead of sermons. The same God who appeared to the innkeeper that first Christmas Eve literally dwells in you. And so, the only thing you need to do to make your secular workplace sacred is walk through the door or log on to Zoom.With that in mind, embrace your work as exactly where God wants to be with you and working through you today!