The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” (Daniel 6:26-27)The context of today’s passage is what makes it remarkable and worthy of particular attention. Not long after King Darius issued a decree that “anyone who prays to any god or human being” other than him would be thrown into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:7), here he is commanding that all his people must fear and revere “the God of Daniel” (Daniel 6:26).What led to this extraordinary change? Most obviously, the miracle of God protecting Daniel from the man-eating lions. But as I hope you’ve seen throughout this series, there’s a second miracle that likely led to Darius’s conversion, and that is the miracle of Daniel’s exceptional work.As we saw a few weeks ago, one of King Darius’s predecessors found Daniel “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom,” and thus drafted Daniel into the king’s service—his first job at the palace when he was just a teenager (see Daniel 1).Roughly five decades later, it seems as if King Darius shared the same opinion of Daniel. In Daniel 6:3 we learn that “Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that [King Darius] planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”So distinguished was Daniel that when he disobeyed King Darius’s law, the king was “distressed…he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him” (Daniel 6:14).It’s pretty remarkable to see a king fighting this hard to save a servant who broke his own law. After all, the king had 120 other administrators in his service (see Daniel 6:1). But something was different about Daniel. So exceptional was Daniel’s work that the king made a fool of himself fighting to save Daniel’s life.One of the most notable characteristics of Netflix’s company culture is what they call “The Keeper Test.” In an effort to keep their “talent density” high, Netflix managers are encouraged to consider whether or not they would fight to keep a member of their team if that team member were to quit tomorrow.Today’s passage shows us that Daniel is the ultimate passer of The Keeper Test. It also serves as a beautiful reminder of how the ministry of excellence can be used to lead unbelievers like King Darius to the Lord.Here’s my question for you as we close out this series: Would you pass The Keeper Test in your work? Would your boss, customers, or investors fight as hard as Darius fought for Daniel if they knew your demise was at hand? If so, press on, being encouraged by Daniel’s example that excellent work can lead people to a knowledge of the one true God!

Sign-up for my free 20 day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.” (Daniel 2:24)The context of today’s verse, found in Daniel 2, contains one of the most absurd accounts in all of Scripture.Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a series of troubling dreams. So he summoned his many “magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers” to make sense of his nightmares (Daniel 2:2). But the king didn’t just demand interpretation of his dreams. He demanded that his servants guess the content of those dreams as well. He said, “If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble” (Daniel 2:5).Incredulous, the king’s staff replied, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans” (Daniel 2:10-11).King Nebuchadnezzar did not like that answer, so he ordered the execution of all the wise men in Babylon, including Daniel and his friends.But instead of resigning himself to death, Daniel “urged [his friends] to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:18).Stop for a second and appreciate how remarkable this account is. Even though the king’s request was certifiably crazy and impossible for the other wise men of Babylon, Daniel had faith that the God of the Bible could do impossible work through him.And sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. God revealed the content and the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams to Daniel. That’s when Daniel uttered today’s verse, boldly claiming to have the answers nobody else could produce.Centuries before the words were written, Daniel understood what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”Daniel was working “in the world” just as the other wise men of Babylon were. But Daniel worked distinctly. He wielded otherworldly weapons—in this case, intense prayer—and had faith that God could produce otherworldly results through his work.Those same spiritual weapons are available to you and me today, believer. We don’t go to work with the same toolset as our non-Christian counterparts. We go to work with the Creator God dwelling in us. We go to work with His ‘“incomparably great power” (Ephesians 1:19). We go to work with and for the One “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).Are you working as if you believe these things to be true? May we all be like Daniel—those with faith that God is able to do through our work what others believe to be impossible.

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.