My Earthly Boss Is Not Really My Boss

In review of Colossians 3:23-24 it says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”

Bottom Line:

Work hard and cheerfully in all you do, as if you were working directly for the Lord rather than people, knowing that he will reward you as he is the one you are really working for.

What this means to me:

I am to work hard and cheerfully in everything I do. I do so as if I were working directly for the Lord rather than men. I should know that he will reward me for doing so, as in everything I do I am working for him.

Given this, my boss is not really my boss. My ultimate boss is Jesus.

The Bible says, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24 NLT, second edition).

There are two important parts of this verse:

First, I can have a better attitude about work once I understand that, no matter where I work or who I work for, my real boss is Jesus.

Keeping this in mind will make it easier to be enthusiastic about my job, especially when I stop thinking, “I’m doing this for my boss” or “I’m doing this for a paycheck” and instead start thinking, “I’m doing this for the Lord.” By understanding this truth, I’ll be able to do anything — from running a company to washing dishes — turning it into an act of worship.

Secondly, when I can turn my work into worship, I will start storing up credits in Heaven. I’ll be making eternal deposits.

So It doesn’t matter if I’m vacuuming the rug, repairing a car, serving in the military, or managing an office, any job I do can become an act of worship if I do it enthusiastically for God: “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV).

Knowing that Jesus is my ultimate boss will help me keep the right perspective and enable me to persevere especially when it gets difficult in dealing with personalities and personal agendas. Having this perspective and working this way can become an act of worship, because anything I do with enthusiasm in service and for the right motives that results in giving myself up and sacrificing is an act of worship to God. With this perspective even the mundane tasks I come across are handled not just as an inconvenience but rather as a service.

Today I will focus on doing all my work with Christ as my boss.

Becoming a Missionary in My Workplace

In review of Matthew 6:20a it says, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

Bottom Line:

Store your real treasures in heaven where they won’t lose value and are safe from being stolen.

What this means to me:

I should not store any real treasures here on earth, instead I should store up the ones that count, ones in heaven. These will never lose their value by deterioration and will be safe from robbers.

What I’m learning is that I can use my work to bring glory to God and to further God’s Kingdom.  One way is to use my business contacts to spread the Gospel.  I can be a Kingdom builder and not just a wealth builder.

I can start by meeting with others who are Christians and then together we can start praying for others close at hand, being available to them as needed. I can also establish good Christian principles in the way I conduct business on a day to day basis. In retrospect, as an IT leader I can probably have more influence on other IT people than a pastor or missionary.

When I use my work for the one thing that’s going to outlast everything else — the Kingdom of God — I’ll be a Kingdom builder and not just a wealth builder.

There is nothing wrong with using my work to build wealth. But Jesus said in Matthew 6:20, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (NIV). The only way I can invest in Heaven is to invest in people who are going there. When my work points people to God, I’ll be storing up treasure in Heaven to use for eternity. I’ll be advancing God’s Kingdom!

Today I will consider those in my new workplace and ask God to help me see opportunities to minister to your coworkers and tell them about Jesus Christ.

God Uses My Work to Develop My Character

In review of Luke 16:10-12 it says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much .…  If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:10-12 NIV)

Bottom Line:

If you can be trusted and faithful with smaller matters, you will be faithful in the larger ones. If you are dishonest in small things will also be dishonest in the larger ones. If you are not trustworthy with handling worldly wealth, you cannot be trusted with true riches of heaven. If you are not faithful with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own.

What this means to me:

I must be trustworthy with and faithful with the small things in life. They are a true indication of how I will handle the larger ones. So if I become dishonest in the smaller things, I will do the same for larger ones. If I can’t handle worldly wealth, then I won’t be trusted with the truer riches of heaven. I must faithfully handle someone else’s property, so that I can be trusted with bigger things.

In the book of Genesis, God gave Joseph a vision of becoming a great leader, but for 40 years he spent his life as a slave, and much of that time he actually spent working in prison. That turned out to be the testing ground of Joseph’s character, and when the day came and the time was just right, God pulled him out of that setting and placed him where he always intended Joseph to be. The whole time, God was growing Joseph’s character.

What I’m learning is that God is far more concerned about who I am than what I do. He is much more interested in my character than he is in my career. However God will use my work and my workplace to develop my character. My workplace is a life course in character development.

God will use others to test my patience, and he could use a workplace or a situation that I might be unhappy in to develop and grow my character. He plants seeds of love, joy, peace, and patience in my heart, and then he fertilizes those seeds while I work.

There will likely be times when I think, “How come this is going on? Why is this such a tough place? Why are these people picking on me? Why can’t I be happier at my workplace?” In reality, I just asking the same question that Solomon asked in Ecclesiastes 1:3: “You spend your life working, laboring, and what do you have to show for it?” (GNT)

The answer to this is character. This life of mine is merely a preparation for eternity. In the end I won’t be taking my career with me to Heaven, but I will be taking my character. And while I’m here on Earth, God will be developing my character and testing my faithfulness. Will I be faithful to do the right thing, even when I don’t feel like doing the right thing? God is watching so that he can determine what kind of job he is going to give me in eternity.

Jesus said in Luke 16:10-12, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much .…  If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (NIV)

Today, I will remember to be faithful in the little things of life, as they count greatly in the overall scheme of character development.

The Work That Makes Me The Happiest Is for God’s Kingdom

In review of 1 Peter 4:10 it says, “God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings.”

Bottom Line:

God has given each of us some special abilities. We are to use them to serve others. In doing so we pass on God’s many blessings.

What this means to me:

God has given me special gifts that I am to use to serve others with. As I use them in service I’m partnering with God and passing on blessings to others.

In the long run, meaning will matter more than any amount of money. When I get to Heaven, I don’t believe that God is going to ask me, “How much money did you make?” Rather, He’s going to ask, “Did you make your life count? Did I express and use the talents that He gave me?”

This verse reminds me that, “God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings” (1 Peter 4:10 TLB).

That means the best work for me is the work that will best express my talent. God has wired each of us to do something different. The reason we all like to do different things is so everything gets done.

Overall God made us so that our lives count. What I’m learning is that I’ll be happiest when I’m using the talents God gave me for something greater than my self.

The greatest cause in the world is the Kingdom of God. It is the Church. The whole reason the world exists is so God could build a family that one day will live with him forever. There is nothing more meaningful and purposeful than giving my life to the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus was 12 years old, he already knew what business he was in. Then, at the end of his life, he told the Father, “I have finished the work that you gave me to do.” Those are the bookends of a life well lived.

So I should consider what my business is? What is the work God has given me to do? And, how’s business? These are the fundamental questions I can ask about my life to make sure I’m on track.

Overall, It’s important for me to not waste my life. I can also just ask God to show me the work he wants me to do, and then use my gifts to make the rest of my life the best of my life.

God Looks at Me Through Eyes of Grace

In review of Galatians 2:21 it says, “Don’t treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”

Bottom Line:

Don’t treat the grace of God as being meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then Christ would have died for nothing.

What this means to me:

I should never take lightly the grace of God as to not having much meaning. If all I needed to do was just keep the law to be good with God, then Christ would have died for nothing.

John reminds us in John 1:17, “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (NCV). Why through Jesus? Why not some other way?

What the Word teaches us is that Jesus Christ is the only way to get into Heaven because he paid the price of admission. Thus on the cross, he paid for my sins.

Grace is free, no doubt about that. But it was not cheap for God. It cost Jesus Christ his life.

The law tells me when I do wrong. But Grace says, “I’m forgiven and here’s how to get back on track. Let’s get going in the right direction.”

In the Bible, a popular description for someone who’s accepted God’s grace is the term “in Christ.” Rick Warren explains that this phrase is used more than 120 times in the New Testament. It refers to somebody who has found salvation through the grace of God.

No matter how my life looks or the things that I’ve done or the fact that I’m no where close to being perfect. When I accept God’s free gift of grace and salvation, I am in Christ. Jesus Christ takes my life with all its scars, guilt, and shame.

Also, when I’m in Christ, God looks at me with eyes of grace, he only sees the perfection of Jesus Christ.

So today I am reminded, “Don’t treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die” (Galatians 2:21 NLT).

If I could have made it to Heaven without any help from God, Jesus wouldn’t have come and died on the cross for me. But there was no other way. I’m either going to get into Heaven in Christ or I won’t be going.

Grace is God’s riches at Christ’s expense. It’s a free gift. I just need to accept it in faith!

How To Get God’s Sustaining Grace

In review of 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 it says, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’”

Bottom Line:

God can use our weakness to display his great power.

What this means to me:

I can pray and even beg the Lord to take away my arthritic conditions, however I should know that God provides his grace to me and will display his great power through my weakness. I should not hang back and not give it my full effort, but rather gladly accept my weakness and know that God will often use me not on my own strength but his. In this he will slow his great power.

So what can I do when I can’t fix an unfixable problem? What can I do when I can’t solve an unsolvable riddle? What can I do when I can’t change an unchangeable circumstance?

I am to throw myself on the sustaining grace of God. Given this, I’m learning that there are four things I can do to keep going in spite of temptations, trials, tension, tiredness, and troubles.

First, its ok to go ahead and cry out for God’s help. As long as I pretend to be self-sufficient, I will short-circuit God’s power in my life. Admit that I need God’s help. James 4:6b-8a says, “[God] gives grace to the humble. So give yourselves completely to God …. Come near to God, and God will come near to you” (NCV).

Secondly, fill my mind with God’s Word. Let it comfort, strengthen, fill, and give me the energy I need to keep going. David prayed, “I lie in the dust; revive me by your word” (Psalm 119:25 NLT).

Thirdly, accept support from God’s people. The Bible says that “by helping each other with your troubles, you truly obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 NCV). God will put a weaknesses in my life so that I can realize how much I need others. He never meant for me to go through life on my own.

Lastly, hold on to God’s promises. There are more than 7,000 of them in the Bible waiting to be claimed, such as “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youth grow tired and weary … but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31 NIV). I need to keep my eyes focused on the hope of Heaven, not just on the here and now.

Personally, after a period of remission, my arthritis is starting to resurface. Ultimately I need to be referred to a specialist, however, giving the timing I’ll need to wait to see a specialist a few more weeks, until I relocate from Southern to Northern California. So, I should remember that no matter what I’m going through, God’s grace will sustain me if I allow it.

“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9a NLT).

I’ll need to remember, that when I’m going through a problem I can’t seem to fix, I shouldn’t give up; instead I should look up!

God Is Never Far Away

In review of Isaiah 55:6 it says, "Seek the lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near."

Bottom Line:

Turn to the Lord! He can still be found. Call on him, he is near.

What this means to me:

I can always count on and rely on the Lord, he is never far away. I should learn to call on him more often and letting him know what I need or what I’m concerned about.

What I’m learning is that God never moves away from me. Isaiah reminds me of this in this verse. There are times when God seems far away, however when this seems to be happening it more likely related to me moving away from God than Him moving away from me.  This can happen because I can put in a barrier between myself and God through un-confessed sin and not wanting to deal with something he is bringing up in my life to deal with.

It is far better for me to not drift away from God but rather to continually make it a priority to meet with Him frequently. If I wait too long, it It may be harder to turn back, or worse yet, God may come to judge the world before I decide to turn to him.

In summary, God wants to give me so much, I only need to remember to turn to him. He is always present and ready to hear from me.