The Word Before Work

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 7 of 7“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.” (Psalm 50:23) “Glorify” is one of those Christianese terms we use so much that its meaning can feel muddled. So, when you read a passage like 1 Corinthians 10:31 that urges you to do “whatever you do…for the glory of God,” you might understandably wonder what that looks like practically—especially in the workplace.Let’s look to God’s Word to remove some of the mystery together. Here are just five ways Scripture says you can “glorify” God at work today.#1: Give thanks. Psalm 50:23 makes clear that simply thanking God for the gift of your work and the fruit it’s producing “glorifies” him.#2: Do good work. Jesus 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” (Matthew 5:16). The Greek word ergon that we translate to “good works” here literally means “work, task, [and] employment.” And so, you can be confident you are glorifying God today when you simply do your work with excellence, love, and in accordance with his commands.#3: Trust God’s promises. Romans 4:20 tells us that Abraham “gave glory to God” when he “did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God.” We can do the same. God has promised you will work without the curse for eternity (see Isaiah 65:17-22), that he is working “all things” for your good (see Romans 8:28-29), and that somehow your work is “not in vain” (see 1 Corinthians 15:58). Simply trusting in these promises glorifies him!#4: Share the gospel (and your belongings). In 2 Corinthians 9:13, Paul says that your co-workers “will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them.”#5: Sacrifice your freedoms. The context of 1 Corinthians 10:31 (“whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”) is Paul urging his readers to sacrifice their freedoms for the good of others (see 1 Corinthians 10:23-33). And so, you can be confident you are glorifying God when you, for example, sacrifice the freedom to work from home so that you can better build relationships with the lost. Or give up your right to drink alcohol in front of a co-worker who doesn’t.Those are just five of the many ways you can glorify God at work. I pray they will motivate you to look at every interaction, project, and meeting as an opportunity to bring glory to your heavenly Father today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 6 of 7Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you….What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? (Psalm 116:7, 12)A friend of mine was watching a kid play his heart out on the basketball court even though his team was up 20 points. After the game, my friend asked the boy why he was hustling so hard when victory was guaranteed. The kid’s response was perfect: “Because I love my coach.”That’s a pretty good picture of what David is getting at in Psalm 116.In verse 7, David instructs his soul to rest. Why? Because “the Lord has been good” to him. As we express gratitude for the things God has already done in and through our work, we can rest and be content even if the Lord doesn’t provide anything else in the future.In short, thankfulness is a path to rest. But it’s not just a path to rest. In verse 12, David says that rest is a path to ambition—to leave it all out on the court, if you will. “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?” David asks. In other words, in view of the Lord’s graciousness, what can I do to serve him? David understood that ambition to do the Lord’s work was a proper response to the good things the Lord had given him. How much more true is that for us who know the ultimate good that was done for us on the cross?The goodness God has shown us in Jesus Christ should lead us to thankfulness and rest. But it should also lead us to great ambition—not to earn our salvation, but as a worshipful response to it (see Ephesians 2:8-10).Take a moment right now to meditate on how “the Lord has been good to you” this past week. Thank him for the projects you’ve completed at work, the impact your work is having in the lives of customers and your team, or just the fact that you have work and income. Once you’ve given thanks, take a moment to rest in the goodness of God. And then allow that rest to lead you to work “heartily as unto the Lord” as a response of worship today (see Colossians 3:23)!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 5 of 7[God] makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth...All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. (Psalm 104:14, 27)After praying and thanking God for our dinner, my daughter Kate (3 at the time) said, “Daddy, God didn’t give us this food. Mommy bought it at the grocery store!”“You’re right, Kate,” I said. “Mommy did buy this food at the grocery store. But who created the apple on your plate?” “God,” Kate answered.“That’s right,” I said. “And he also made the farmer that picked that apple, and the engineers who built a truck to take the apples to the grocery store which was built by entrepreneurs, carpenters, and bankers. God used the work of all of those people and more to give us this dinner!”By this point, I had long lost Kate’s attention. But one day, I pray she will read Psalm 104 and appreciate what I was trying to teach her.The Psalmist says that God "makes grass grow," but leaves it "for people to cultivate" the land. And this is just how God intended from the beginning—even prior to sin entering the world! In Genesis 2, we’re told that, after God began creating, “no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up.” Why? Because “the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground” (see Genesis 2:5).You see it, right? God could have made shrubs, grass, and food grow all on his own. But he chose to delegate that work to his image-bearers—a theme we see all throughout God’s Word.Sure there are times in Scripture in which God miraculously provided for his people (see Exodus 16 and Matthew 14:13-21). But most of the time, we see God working through the miracle of human work. “God could easily give you grain and fruit without your plowing and planting,” said Martin Luther, “but he does not want to do so.” Because you and I are the primary instrument through which God works in this world.Knowing that—that your work is nothing less than the means through which God feeds, heals, and sustains the world—lean into your work with joy, excellence, and love today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 4 of 7May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)This is the final verse of Psalm 90, the only Psalm that credits Moses as its author. It’s not surprising that Moses concludes his Psalm with these words, as he prayed a similar prayer six times in the book of Deuteronomy alone (see Deuteronomy 2:7; 14:29; 16:15; 24:19; 28:12; 30:9).Why was this such a frequent prayer of Moses?First, I think Moses understood that this prayer is a practical way of reminding ourselves that God alone produces results through our work. In Deuteronomy 8:18, Moses said that “​​it is [God] who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” How do we remind ourselves of that truth? By joining Moses in praying the words of today’s passage.Second, I think Moses continually offered up this prayer because it is deep within the heart of any human being for our work to outlive us. That’s what Moses is praying for in Psalm 90:17. The Hebrew word for "establish" in “establish the work of our hands” literally means to "make permanent."And isn’t that what we all long for? Arthur Miller says it is. In his play, Death of a Salesman, Miller said that our desire “to leave a thumbprint somewhere on the world” is a “need greater than hunger or sex or thirst…A need for immortality, and by admitting it, the knowing that one has carefully inscribed one’s name on a cake of ice on a hot July day.”That’s spot on. The question, of course, is which work will be “made permanent”? In short, any work done “in the Lord'' (see 1 Corinthians 15:58). Any work done for his glory rather than our own. Because unless the things on our to-do lists are on God’s to-do list, they will eventually amount to nothing.So what’s on God’s to-do list? The advancement of “the gospel of the kingdom” (Matthew 24:14), working “heartily as unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:23), doing excellent work as a means of “loving your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39), “making disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), and working to make “all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Pray that the Lord would establish that work of your hands today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 3 of 7Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)I’ve noticed a strikingly consistent theme in the biographies of history’s most impactful Christians: They thought about death—a lot. At the age of 29, Martin Luther told a mentor “he didn’t think he would live very long.” William Wilberforce “seriously believed he was likely to die violently” before he completed his life’s work of abolishing the slave trade. And Alexander Hamilton “imagine[d] death so much it [felt] more like a memory.”These men lived and worked hundreds of years ago when death was far more common and thinking about it was in some ways inevitable. That stands in stark contrast to our culture today. In an essay titled The Pornography of Death, anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer argued that death has replaced sex as the most taboo topic of our modern age.But in Psalm 90, Moses says that meditating on death is one of the wisest things we can do. Why? Because dwelling on death leads us to “walk [carefully], not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (see Ephesians 5:15-16).So here’s my encouragement to you: Find a way to remind yourself of the brevity of life today. Here are just four ideas.#1: Choose a passage of Scripture to memorize that will remind you of the sobering reality of death. Some of my favorites are Psalm 39:5, Psalm 90:12, Psalm 144:4, Job 7:7, Ecclesiastes 7:2, James 4:14, and Ecclesiastes 12:7.#2: Take a walk in a cemetery on your drive to or from work today.#3: Read a great book on death from a Christian perspective. Two that I return to often are On Death by Tim Keller and When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.#4: Put physical reminders of death around you. Ancient merchants would often write the Latin memento mori (meaning “think of death”) in large letters on the first page of their accounting books. I have “running out of time” written inside my running shoes. Whatever works for you, works.These practices will look foolish to the world, but Scripture says they are wise for the believer. Do something to dwell on death today so that you may gain a heart of wisdom and redeem your time for the glory of God and the good of others!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 2 of 7In you, Lord my God, I put my trust…Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:1, 5)Can you repeat David’s words with a straight face? “God…my hope is in you all day long.” I know I can’t most days. That might be true in the mornings after I have spent time in the Word meditating on the hope of the gospel. But once I sit down at my desk, it often feels like my hope is in signing the next book deal, hitting the next milestone in podcast subscribers, or helping my kids get straight As at school.These are examples of good things that you and I should be ambitious for. Done with proper motives, they are part of the “good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (see Ephesians 2:10).But our good work can’t be the source of our hope. Why? Because the results of our work aren’t secure! I have no ultimate control over my next book deal or whether or not my kids make the honor roll. Thus, setting my ultimate hopes on these fragile things will inevitably disappoint.This is why we can never “move past” the gospel. The temptation to place our hopes in the next promotion, acquisition, or project at work can be immense. The only antidote is to constantly preach the gospel to ourselves, reminding us that our ultimate hope is in our status as adopted children of God (see John 1:12-13).J.D. Greear is right: “The gospel is not just the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity; it is the pool itself.” And so, we must swim in the pool of the gospel regularly.Even if you fail to accomplish what you’ve set out to do at work today, your eternal hope of salvation is secure. You can be assured of God’s “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.” Let this truth marinate in your heart "all day long" today.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: Wisdom for Work from the PsalmsDevotional: 1 of 7Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)Growing up, we had a tree in my yard that would produce delicious tangerines each year. Do you know what I never saw that tree do? Hoard the fruit for itself. Why? Because that’s not the purpose of a fruit tree. A fruit tree exists to share its fruit with others.I think that’s part of what the Psalmist had in mind in today’s passage. The Psalter opens by describing “one...whose delight is in the law of the Lord” and says that whatever that person does “prospers.” Who is that prosperity for? Primarily for others—just like “a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit.”Is it wrong to enjoy the fruit of our labor? Absolutely not! All analogies break down at some point, and the fruit tree is no exception. A fruit tree physically can’t partake of its own fruit. We can, and Scripture encourages us to do so! In Ecclesiastes 5:19, Solomon says that “God gives…wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them.”But based on the balance of Scripture, it seems clear to me that the primary purpose of our “wealth and possessions” is to bless others. In 2 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul says this: “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work…You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (see 2 Corinthians 9:8, 11).You see it, right? We are enriched primarily “so that” we will “abound in every good work,” including the work of being “generous on every occasion.”Has your work given you more than you need today? If so, enjoy some of the fruits of your labor as an act of worship to the giver of those good gifts. But don’t forget the picture from today’s Psalm. Primarily, you’re called to be a fruit tree that freely shares its fruit with others. So share generously today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series:  4 Biblical Ways to Escape the Comparison TrapDevotional: 4 of 4Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. (Matthew 25:14)When it comes to escaping the comparison trap, there may be no more helpful passage of Scripture than the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25.Jesus’s parable focuses on a Master (representing himself) who “entrusted his wealth” to three servants. “To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,” and then, he went on a long journey.Upon his return, the Master found that the first servant had diligently put the Master’s money to work and turned five bags of gold into ten. The Master turned to the first servant and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master’s happiness!’”Then, the Master came to the second servant who turned his two bags of gold into four. And the Master gave him the exact same blessing that he gave the first servant—even though the second servant wound up with six fewer bags of gold.Do you see how countercultural this is? Secular wisdom would look at this scene and say, Clearly the servant with ten bags is the “winner,” right!? Not in Jesus’s book. Because the Master didn’t compare these guys to each other, he compared them to themselves.Based on this parable, I think if Jesus were asked to define success in a word it would be stewardship—doing your best in accordance with the Lord’s commands. That points us to the fourth way we can escape the comparison trap: Remembering that while the world will always value being the best, God values us doing our best with talents he has called us to steward.I hope you see how unbelievably freeing that truth is. Because it is impossible to win the world’s game. There will always be somebody bigger, better, richer, smarter, more popular, more talented, and more successful than you. Always! And so, if the game is about being the best, you will never escape the comparison trap.But with God, the only way you “lose” is by not suiting up. So long as you stay focused on your calling—day by day seeking to better steward what God has given you as a worshipful response to your salvation—you win (see Ephesians 2:8-10).The next time you find yourself spiraling into the comparison trap, remember these four biblical ways to escape:Confess your prideThank God for the goodness he has shown to you and to othersAsk yourself if you’re even playing the same game as the person you’re comparing yourself toRemember that while the world calls you to be the best, God calls you to do your best I pray your soul will find rest in these truths today!

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: 4 Biblical Ways to Escape the Comparison TrapDevotional: 3 of 4We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. (2 Corinthians 10:12-13)We’re in a series exploring four biblical ways to escape the comparison trap—our tendency to weigh ourselves against others until we feel improperly superior or inferior to them.We’ve already explored two ways to escape the comparison trap. First, confess your pride. Second, thank God for the goodness he has shown to you and to others. Today’s passage shows us the third way to escape: Ask yourself if you’re even playing the same game as the person you’re comparing yourself to.The context of today’s passage is that the Corinthians were comparing Paul to some false preachers (see 2 Corinthians 11:5). Commenting on this passage, one theologian explains that apparently, “Compared to secular orators, Paul was not as entertaining, dramatic, or engaging.”But Paul refused to compare himself to those other preachers. Why? Because he wasn’t even playing the same game as they were. They were there to preach “a different gospel” (see 2 Corinthians 11:4). Paul was there to preach the one true gospel of Jesus Christ. And so, he said, he would “confine [his] boasting to the sphere of service God himself [had] assigned to [him].”You and I do the opposite of Paul all the time. Let me give you just one personal example.My friend Cal Newport writes incredible business books like Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. And he writes for a very broad audience—for Christians and non-Christians alike. A couple of years ago, I found myself falling into the comparison trap and growing jealous of Cal. By God’s grace, I realized how ridiculous this was, because “the sphere of service God himself has assigned to” me is far narrower than Cal’s. I am called to help Christians connect the gospel to their work. And so, my total potential audience is way smaller than Cal’s. So it makes absolutely zero sense to compare myself to him! Because we aren’t even playing the same game.Lebron James wouldn’t compare himself to Tiger Woods. Similarly, you and I should realize the foolishness of comparing ourselves to others with different callings.If you’re comparing yourself to someone else today, Paul shows you one way to escape. Ask if you’re even playing the same game. If you’re not, knock it off. If you are, access some of the other escape routes we’ve already explored in this series or the final one we will unpack next week.

Sign-up for my free 20-day devotional, The Word Before Work Foundations, at http://TWBWFoundations.com--Series: 4 Biblical Ways to Escape the Comparison TrapDevotional: 2 of 4Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. (Job 41:11)On April 7, 2019, Craig Arttez Brewer walked into a Waffle House and started handing out $20 bills to strangers. For whatever reason, Brewer chose not to extend his generosity to all the restaurant’s patrons, only some. One customer who did not receive one of Brewer’s generous gifts became furious and stormed out of the restaurant. A few minutes later, the customer returned with a gun, shooting and killing Brewer on the spot.This tragic true story illustrates an important truth: God is the creator of the universe. He created us and every good thing in this world, and thus, he is free to do with our lives whatever he pleases. Just as the angry Waffle House customer had no right to Craig Brewer’s generosity, we have no right to God’s. Because we sinned against our Creator, the only “claim” we have against him is the claim to eternal separation from him (see Romans 6:23). That is what we deserve. Everything else—from our salvation, to our jobs, to the breath in our lungs—is a good and merciful gift of grace.And it is that truth that can free us from soul-sucking comparison. Last week, we saw that confessing our pride is the first way to escape the comparison trap. Here’s the second: Thank God for the goodness he has shown—to you and to others. Thanking God for the goodness he has shown you turns your focus away from what you want to what you have already been given. And thanking God for the goodness he has shown others helps you remember that their success too is a gift from God—even if they aren’t followers of him!This is where many of us can get hung up. Let’s say you’re competing for a promotion at work and you lose out to a lying, womanizing colleague who hates the ways of the Lord. That can be a tough pill to swallow. But God’s Word promises that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father” (James 1:17) who “sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). And so, we can trust that God knows what he’s doing—even when he allows the “unrighteous” to prosper.This morning, I want you to think of just one person you tend to compare yourself to. Thank God for the goodness he has shown them—their talents, prosperity, health, etc.And thank him for the unmerited goodness he has shown you, joining Jacob in praying, “I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant” (Genesis 32:10).