Offering Pleasing to God

Scriptures: “For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)

A young Christian, just graduated from college, went to work for a consulting company. Having being taught to be a responsible steward of everything entrusted to him, he worked very hard to be the best professional in his field. But he soon found that his job demanded more than he expected.

First of all, there’s always work not planned for, nor scheduled. He discovered that, when the company wanted to maximize her profit, she actually also meant to minimize the resources required. He found himself constantly working 60 to 70 hours a week. With all other responsibilities unchanged, he became physically worn out all the time.

As if this were not enough, he also came to realize that the real world is so much different from what he thought it would be. Whatever the text book said, there are more than a million ways to implement it. Every manager has his / her own way, depending on their experience and style. And they fought for his support and implementation. Office politics made his work more challenging and less productive. Toward the end of each day, he found himself not only physically exhausted, but also mentally stressful.

He couldn’t get his work out of his mind. The time he spent actually doing company work was already 60 to 70 hours a week. If including the time he spent thinking about his work, he might have been spending more than 100 hours a week. As such, he became spiritually challenged.

He thought he was doing his best to be the best professional to give a good name to Christians. Instead, he found that the joy has left his life and his heart was filled with work, not inspiration; with bitterness, not love; and with resentment, not thanksgiving. Where have all the joy gone?

I think this is a real challenge to every Christian, in varying degrees, of course! We want to do the best we can so as to bear a good witness to our Lord Jesus. Yet, somewhere in there, there is a line that we missed. There is a line that says, “If you cross it, you will lose your sense of direction, put yourself under the yoke of this world and lose your spiritual balance and your power to witness.”

God does expect each of us to be the best professional there is, but not at the expense of the divine priority, to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) Unless we maintain our spirituality, we cannot be the persons God wants us to be; we cannot do the work He commands us to do. How can we have mercy on others when our hearts are filled with bitterness? How can we share the knowledge of God when our lives have no bearing of such knowledge?

Every morning, let’s set aside the amount of time we need to build our relationship with our Lord first. A musical instrument is of little value to its player until it is tuned. We need to be tuned to our Creator and Redeemer first before we may be His instruments. Studying His Word, meditation on His instructions, and coming near to Him in prayers are all critical to our readiness and maturity in doing the work He called us to.

Our lives will continue to throw work and busyness at us. But, we need not be reactive. We can proactively approach our lives, especially our professional lives, in ways that can truly give glory to our Lord Jesus.

Prayer Requests:
Busy professionals

Prayer:
Our gracious Lord, thank You for redeeming us from the power of sin and for calling us to ministries to serve You and the people around us. We ask that, in every opportunity presented to us, You first transform our hearts and lives so we may respond with Your wisdom and love. Be glorified in our lives, especially in the work we do every day. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen!