The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com [Daniel said,] “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So [the guard] agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead. To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds. At the end of the time set by the king to bring them into his service, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. (Daniel 1:12-20)Last week, we saw how Daniel respectfully declined to obey his employer’s command to eat defiled food from King Nebuchadnezzar’s table, as doing so would have violated his ultimate allegiance to God’s commands.Today’s passage shares the rest of the story, with Daniel proposing an alternative solution and God graciously producing extraordinary results. Verse 20 says that the king found Daniel and his God-fearing friends “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.”This is the first time we hear of Daniel setting himself apart at work, but it’s certainly not the last. In Daniel 5:14, King Belshazzar says that Daniel was known for his “enlightenment, understanding, and excellent wisdom.” Daniel 6:3 tells us that “Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”In short, Daniel was exceptional at his job. He was ten times better than his colleagues. And because of that, he (and more importantly, his God) stood out to the unbelievers in the palace where he worked.Google is famous for encouraging their employees to adopt “10X thinking.” The idea is that unlike traditional corporations who think in terms of making a product 10 percent better, Googlers are expected to make their products 10 times better as that is how you stand out in the marketplace.It’s also how we and the God we serve stand out at work.We shouldn’t aim to be 10% better than our colleagues or competitors. We should aim to be like Daniel—10X better. Not so we can pridefully say we’re the best. And not primarily to land a promotion or bigger valuation. We should strive to model Daniel’s example because the ministry of 10X excellence makes us winsome to unbelievers, serves employers and customers well, and brings glory to our great God who must be credited for our inexplicable results.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service. Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. (Daniel 1:5-8)Are you working in a company or industry that is agnostic or perhaps even antagonistic to the things of the Lord? The book of Daniel reminds you that God can use your position in powerful ways for His glory. In this four-week series, we will study how Daniel leveraged his long career as a public servant to glorify God through his exceptional work.Today’s passage sets the scene. After the Israelites were conquered by the Babylonians, Daniel finds himself in exile, forced to train to serve the Babylonian king. Right off the bat, Daniel’s new masters command him to eat defiled food from King Nebuchadnezzar’s table and thus violate God’s law.What will Daniel do? What are we to do when our employers or the gurus in our industry ask us to do things that are contrary to God’s Word? After all, in Ephesians 6:5 Paul instructs us to “obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.”But as Daniel’s example shows us, we are only to obey earthly authorities up to the point in which their directives clearly violate God’s law. You hear Peter echoing these same sentiments in Acts 5:29 when he says, “We must obey God rather than human beings!”Eating the food from King Nebuchadnezzar’s table would have violated God’s law. Thus, “Daniel resolved not to defile himself” and respectfully “asked the chief official for permission” to abstain. Daniel understood what we must understand as we work in a fallen world: that our citizenship is ultimately in the Kingdom of God, not in the kingdoms of this world (see Philippians 3:20). While Scripture clearly commands that we obey earthly authorities, we do so only to the point that those authorities demand that we contradict our ultimate allegiance to King Jesus. Daniel was prepared to face the consequences of his decision. We must be prepared to do the same.Where is your employer asking you to contradict God’s Word? How can you winsomely and respectfully push back on those commands in a way in which God would be glorified?If you’re an entrepreneur, in what ways is the status quo of your industry leading you to subtly violate the Lord’s commands? How might you, like Daniel, step out and courageously seek to redeem what’s broken in your space?I pray we’d all meditate on those questions this morning and, like Daniel, choose to honor King Jesus over the kings of this world.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:5-9)We’re in a series exploring three biblical truths that give us the courage to create and work boldly in the midst of uncertain times. This morning, at the beginning of this New Year, we look at our third and final truth: The Lord is always with us.Throughout the Old Testament, the command to “be strong and courageous” is issued again and again. In today’s passage, the Lord commands it three times in just five verses! Clearly, this is something God wants us to pay attention to.But here’s what I believe is most important for us to see. The command to “be strong and courageous” is almost always connected to the promise of the Lord’s constant presence. Joshua 1:9 is a good example: “Be strong and courageous…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”Before 2021 takes off, take just a moment to meditate on that: The Creator God is with you wherever you go, including at work.What does that truth mean for our work? In Ephesians 3:20, Paul says that because of “[God’s] power that is at work within us,” he is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a writer, a teacher, a stay-at-home-mom, or a designer, you have an unfair advantage. You have the God who is “able to do immeasurably more” than you can imagine within you.Do your goals reflect that truth? Do your prayers for your work in this New Year show that you believe what Scripture says in these passages?In these uncertain times, may we be the people in our communities who have the courage to create and take big swings this year. Why? Because as we saw two weeks ago, God is working all things for our ultimate good. As we saw last week, we are made in the image of a God who risks. And as we’ve seen this morning, we can “be strong and courageous…for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”What might it look like for you to create courageously in 2021? I’d encourage you to prayerfully consider your answer to that question today.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)We’re in a series exploring three biblical truths that give us the courage to create and work boldly in uncertain times. Last week, we saw how the truth that God works everything for our good gives us the courage to create. This morning we look at our second truth: We are made in the image of God who took the ultimate risk to create.It can seem borderline heretical to claim that omnipotent, omniscient God is capable of taking a risk, but pastor Tim Keller argues that’s precisely what we see in Genesis 1-3. Here’s Keller: “You can see the risks and the costs from the very beginning. God made the world filled with human beings made in his image, human beings with free will. So God made the world knowing what it was going to cost him. Knowing what we were going to do. Knowing that [his] Son was going to have to come into the world and experience what he experienced.”When you and I work to create new businesses, medicines, or processes at work, there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty. We are not omniscient and thus do not know whether our creations will fail or succeed. But God is omniscient. He is all-knowing. When God created humankind, He knew precisely the risks He was taking and yet still created out of a desire to share His love and glory with us.What’s my point? Creation always requires risk and sacrifice. Risk isn’t just right. Risk and sacrifice in the service of others is God-like.As we enter 2021, our world is more uncertain than ever. It could be easy to hold back, risk less, and play it safe at work in the New Year. But is that really the example the Father holds out for us? You and I are made in the image of God who created knowing that He would have to send His Son to earth that first Christmas day, only to be crucified some thirty years later.To serve others well in 2021, you may need to risk capital, a potential promotion, or being misunderstood. But none of us will risk more than God did when He created us. Let that truth give us the courage to create boldly as a means of glorifying our Father in the New Year!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)When will this virus get under control? What will happen to our once-booming economy? What will that economy mean for our work? More than ever before, we have far more questions than answers.My fear is that amidst all this uncertainty, we Christ-followers will hold back and be less courageous in our work than we have been before. I fear we’ll set smaller goals, dwarf down our God-given visions, and “play it safe” in the New Year.There are certainly times when it may be wise to risk less, but I’d hate to see us—the Christians in our work communities—earn the reputation for having a lack of courage during these times.To be clear, I’m not talking about the courage to fly on an airplane or go to a restaurant. I’m talking about the courage to create—to take big swings to create new things (or grow existing things) as a means of glorifying God and serving people well.2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power” (emphasis mine). Because of the Spirit’s power within us, we should be the boldest people on the planet—the ones daring greatly to create new businesses, medicines, initiatives, art, and hope.Where can we look in Scripture as we search for the courage to create? Over the next three weeks, we’ll explore three passages that answer that question, beginning with today’s passage: Romans 8:28.We can risk boldly because we know that in success or failure, God is working “all things” for His glory and the good of His Church.How can failure be worked for “good”? There are many answers to that question, but the one I’ve personally found to be most compelling is that our reaction to professional failures can preach a powerful sermon of the gospel to the lost.One of my non-Christian friends frequently comments on how much he admires my ability to “take big swings” and risks in business and in life. This friend knows my failures and my successes, but it’s my courage to create in the face of great risk that is winsome to him. This friend once said to me, “You have no fear.” I explained that’s absolutely not true. I have fears, but I also have Christ, and it’s the security of His love that enables me to risk.I’ll close today’s devotional with Jesus’s words in John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”As you look towards 2021 and pray about what God may be calling you to chase after professionally, “take courage; Jesus has overcome the world” and is working everything for His glory and your ultimate good.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free. And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. (Ephesians 6:5-9)Today, we conclude our study of Ephesians with a passage that contains some of the most direct instructions about work in all of Scripture for both “slaves” and “masters” (or in our modern parlance, employees and employers).First, let’s look at the most obvious commands. If you work for someone else, Paul commands you to obey them “with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” If you employ others, you are to “treat your [team] in the same way”—with respect, honor, and a lack of favoritism.Those are the clearest and most direct commands in this passage. But I’d also invite you to take a closer look at verses 7-8, which command all of us to “serve wholeheartedly” at work. Why is Paul calling us to work with enthusiasm?First, because in serving others at work we are “serving the Lord” (verse 7). This is our primary motivation for doing wholehearted, exceptional work. Excellence is ministry and part of how we love our employers, employees, and customers as ourselves and glorify our great God. That is motivating in and of itself.But let’s not ignore the fact that Paul also holds out extrinsic rewards for good work as a secondary motivator. You see it right there in verse 8: “Serve wholeheartedly…because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.” This is far from the only place that Paul claims that there are eternal rewards tied to how we steward our vocations (see 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, and Hebrews 6:10-12). Jesus also suggested the same thing in the Parable of the Talents (see Matthew 25:14-30).Scripture couldn’t be clearer: There are eternal rewards for how we work in this life and it is good and right for those rewards to lead us to care deeply about serving others, and by extension the Lord, through the ministry of excellence at work. May that promise lead you to work with great enthusiasm today!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)Today, we’re looking at what my friend Matt Perman calls “the core New Testament passage on productivity.” But before we take a closer look at Ephesians 5:15-17, we need to establish some context.After expounding upon the gospel of grace in Ephesians 1-4, the apostle Paul reminds us of our status as “dearly loved children” of God in Ephesians 5:1. What is our response to our adoption as sons and daughters of God? Today’s passage contains part of the answer to that question.Paul is saying that part of our response to the gospel is to “[make] the most of every opportunity.” I prefer how the NKJV translates that phrase as “redeeming the time.”The Greek word exagorazó which we translate to mean “redeeming” in “redeeming the time” literally means to “buy up” or “ransom.” If you’ve ever said, “I wish I could buy more time,” that’s the idea here. As Christians, we are called to “buy up” as much time as we can, managing our time as carefully and wisely as possible towards the purposes of our Father. Commenting on this passage, Tim Keller said, “Christians are solemnly obliged not to waste time. Time-stewardship is a command!”Why are we commanded to steward our time wisely? Not so that we will have more time to spend on selfish pursuits. We are called to redeem our time because “the days are evil” and we are running out of time to do the will of the Lord. Jen Wilkin puts it this way: “We are commanded to be time redeemers, those who reclaim our time from useless pursuits and employ it to the glory of God.”Amen. Paul is showing us that good time management isn’t “unspiritual.” It is a proper response to the gospel and our adoption into God’s family. God is at work in the world and He has invited us to participate in that work through our vocations. With that in mind, let us be “time redeemers” who make the most of this short life for our Father’s great glory.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. (Ephesians 4:28)Even if you’re not known to steal to make ends meet, this passage still offers a lot of wisdom for our work. The key is found in Paul’s choice of the word “useful.” If the only reason for our work was to generate enough income to “share with those in need,” then why would it matter if our work was useful to the world? It wouldn’t. We’d be free to do any work so long as it generated enough financial resources to serve the poor. But with just one word, Paul is reminding us of one of the main themes of all his letters: That the work you and I do today has many God-glorifying purposes.We have been exploring some of those purposes throughout this series. In Ephesians 1, we learned that our work is a means of pointing to the marriage of heaven and earth. In Ephesians 2, we learned that our work is a means of doing “good works” for others and glorifying God in the process. In Ephesians 3, we learned that our work is a means of demonstrating God’s “immeasurably great” power working through us.All of these are purposes for work beyond sharing with the poor. In other words, a theology of work exists independent of a theology of charity. That said, we simply can’t ignore the fact that one of the purposes of work is charity—to “share with those in need.”When we do our most exceptional work, we will often be rewarded with financial excess. One God-honoring use of that excess is to share it generously with those who have none—an especially timely message given the terrible economic times we are living in. The poor need our help, and we the Church are called to give it. We can debate what form that help takes, but we can’t argue Scripture’s command that those who are gainfully employed are to care for the poor.But again, we must be careful. Too often we fall for the lie that charity is the only way to “do ministry” through our work. The context of Ephesians and the rest of Scripture show us that that’s not true. While caring for the poor is a wonderful, God-glorifying purpose for our work, let’s never forget that our work is “useful” in and of itself.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)John 14:12 records what I have to imagine was one of the most shocking things the disciples ever heard Jesus say: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”Upon hearing this, the disciples must have been floored. They had seen Jesus give sight to the blind, feed the five thousand, and raise Lazarus from the dead. We’re going to do “greater things than these” Jesus? Yes.Paul is reminding us of this same truth here in Ephesians 3, saying that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” As we’ve seen over the last few weeks, God chooses to work through us and our “good works” to bring His Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.” Combine this with Jesus and Paul’s reminders of God’s “immeasurable” power, and I think we all can admit that our prayers for our work are far too small.This isn’t name-it-and-claim-it “theology.” Far from it. We aren’t to pray big prayers to increase the size of our paycheck. Lord knows, that would be the worst thing to happen to most of us. No, we ought to pray bigger prayers with an aim towards expanding the Kingdom through our work!We should be praying that poverty would be eradicated in our cities because our businesses have provided meaningful work and a living wage to every one of its citizens. We should be praying that we’d have the privilege of seeing every one of our co-workers come to know and follow Jesus. We should be praying that millions more customers would smell the aroma of Christ through how we work and the exceptional products we create.Of course, our motives are never fully pure. But through the Holy Spirit groaning on our behalf (Romans 8:26), God is able to take our prayers for our work and turn them into words that honor Him. Take a minute this morning to pray that the Lord would enlarge your vision for your work, not as a means of accumulation, but as a means of service to God and others.

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)For good reason, Ephesians 2:8-9 is one of the most quoted passages of Scripture in the Church. But in my experience, it’s rare to hear someone preach all the way through verse 10. That’s a shame, because the marriage of verse 10 to verses 8 and 9 could not be more important for our work. When read in its entirety, this passage shows us that the gospel is our ultimate source of rest and ambition.The first half of the passage couldn’t be clearer: Our status as adopted children of God is “by grace….through faith,” and thus “not by works.” What a glorious truth! While we were His enemy, Christ died for us, gracing us with salvation we could never earn and thus can never lose.Years ago, in an effort to help my kids grasp this truth, I borrowed a nighttime routine I learned from Tim Keller. Before I turn out their lights, I ask my girls, “Do you know I love you no matter how many good things you do?” They nod their heads. “Do you know I love you no matter how many bad things you do?” They nod again. Then I ask, “Who else loves you like that?” and they always reply, “Jesus.”You and I need to hear those same words applied to our work. God loves you and I no matter how productive or unproductive we are today. Ironically, it’s that truth that gives us the ambition to be wildly productive. Why? Because working to earn someone’s favor is exhausting. But working in response to unconditional favor is intoxicating. Once you realize that God accepts you “no matter how many good things you do,” you want to be productive for His agenda as a loving act of worship.That’s a good thing, because as Paul makes clear in verse 10, one of the very purposes of our salvation is to do “good works” for others. Jesus made this equally clear in Matthew 5:16 when he said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The very purpose of our lives—the reason we were created and saved—was to do “good works” that advance God’s Kingdom and glorify Him.We don’t do these “good works” to earn His favor. We are ambitious for good work because His favor is graciously secure, leading us to work for His agenda as a loving act of worship. Worship Him by doing good, excellent work for others today!