This is Larry Jones. You are listening to the Grace and Glory Hour of the Dyer Baptist Church with our co-pastors David M. Atkinson and Dr. Lee Atkinson. We are coming to you from Dyer, Indiana. Our prayer is that you will be strengthened by the Word today. Now, here is our pastor. Before Easter and Palm Sunday, we were in a series called Spotless. We're trying to learn what it means to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, to be spotless and without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. So we've talked about what it means to be like the world and how that we need to think differently, we need to love differently, and we need to do differently from the average person around us. Not that we're better than they are, but we're changed. We're bought with a price. We're new creatures. And so this is not a superiority issue, this is a God is gracious issue. Because He's been so good to us, He's changed us, and we should be more and more like Jesus, and less and less like ourselves. So we kind of laid a foundation of what it means to be spotless, and then we started applying that to different issues. And I think the first one we talked about was money. There's a lot of money being thrown around into bank accounts back at that time, if you remember. And so we talked about a Christian worldview, you could say, of money, how to be unspotted from a worldly way of thinking about money. And then we talked about rest. We were kind of coming up on spring break for a lot of us, and so we thought, what is a Christian view on rest and sleep? And we talked about that. So we want to follow up the idea of Christian spotless rest with Christian spotless rest. work. They do go together. And so that will be our topic this morning. I want to mention before I forget, I was working away on this and putting some stuff down, but I kind of wanted some more input. And I came across a recorded message by a guy by the name of Joe I didn't name him that, that's his parents, they did that. And Joe Boot from Toronto had a really good message on philosophy, biblical philosophy of work, and I appreciated his input there. So you can turn to, probably Genesis would be a good place to start. That may not be the first verse I mention, but we'll spend some time in Genesis. You know, when you think about the subject of work, I remember one of our senior saints in years gone by. He's now with the Lord. He was a hardworking guy, but he used to joke and tease. And he'd say, you know, I just love work. I could sit down and watch it all day. And I don't think that's the idea. When we work, we're not sitting down watching somebody else work. We're working ourselves. And I know that sometimes it's easy to think that work is the curse, but we know that it's not. Work was part of God's original plan. We'll see that in a minute. But because of the fall and the curse, work has become more laborious. It's been harder. It's like it fights you every step of the way. Have you ever noticed that? Like, why is it that everything you don't want comes easily? You know? I mean, you never have to... It's funny, we talk about dusting the house, but really we're undusting, aren't we? I mean, the house dusts itself. I mean, you dust crops, but you don't dust your house. It just, it does it on its own. We have to undust the house. You never have to plant weeds. They just happen. A lot? And as soon as you weed this, and then go over there and weed this, you gotta come back and weed this. Again, you don't have to weed it, you have to unweed it, but those are the words we use. You know, you don't have to work to get a mess in your house. The clothes just kinda magically appear on the floor. Right? Problems just happen. When you're trying to write a computer program or crunch numbers in a spreadsheet, you don't have to, you know, really work hard for things to go wrong. You do hit the wrong button, you know, and it gets deleted and you didn't save a backup and things just happen. Sometimes Bethany will ask me how a particular project I'm doing is going and I'll just talk it's fighting me You ever been working and you felt like your work was fighting back like it's alive It's resisting me That's I think part of that is because of the curse work has become harder because of the curse but work itself is not occurs. We want to think differently from the way the world thinks. Remember Romans 12 too said that we should be transformed by the renewing of our mind. We should not be conformed or the same shape as the world, so our thinking needs to be different. What does the world think about work? Maybe they think, this was one of the first things on my list and the guy from Toronto said the same thing, so maybe you're thinking this too. The world thinks that work is a necessary evil. Like, it's a bad thing, but you got to do it or, you know, life will fall apart. Work is humiliating. I shouldn't have to demean myself and lower myself to do these things. It's icky. It makes me sweat, and it gets my hands dirty, and it makes me have a headache. I shouldn't have to work. Work, some people view it as a means of proving my worth. I am significant because look at all the work that I do. Look how productive I am. Sometimes the world looks at work as a means of getting what I want. I'll work, but only so that I can get what I really want. I don't like my work. I don't think I should work. I'd rather not work, but I really, really, really want this. And so I'll work just to get what I want for me. Sometimes in the world, we think of work as a way to make a difference by being a part of something greater than myself. Now all of these ideas have some validity to them, but when the world takes that idea and focuses in on that and say that's the only reason for work, that's where we run into problems. The main purpose of work is not money. The main purpose of work is not self-fulfillment. The main purpose of work is not early retirement. Those are not why we work. Those are not why we should be diligent, and we should think differently from that. What does the world love? What is the motivation? What's the affection of the heart of an average unsaved person? Remember, Colossians 3 said that since we're risen with Christ, we should seek the things which are above. We should set our affection on things above, not on things on the earth. We shouldn't love the way the world loves. We shouldn't love the things here. Well, I think A lot of times people in the world love the easy way. They don't love effort. Isn't that true? Like if there's an easier way to do it, I want that. I want to do anything possible to make it easier. Sometimes people's work life is motivated by the love of status and recognition. They love the praise of man. And so I'll work early so I can achieve this level at a young age and people will be so impressed with me. Sometimes people just love what money can buy and that's why they work, right? That's the affection of the world. Sometimes people embrace those causes whether it's the humane society or whether it's a political party or some other cause that they become champions of because it makes them feel good to be a part of something bigger. And so they're not really loving that cause, they're loving themselves because it makes them feel good about themselves. And I think if we're transparent and if we look with good light on us, we're gonna see that sometimes we have those same kind of motivations going on, don't we? We don't really work for biblical reasons, we work because of what it will get for us. We work because we like feeling important and like we're saving the day. We like the status and recognition that our productivity affords us. Again, there may be valid elements there, but taken to an extreme or focused on, it's not the way God wants us to work. It's a spotted way of working. It's soiled by the thinking of mankind. So I want us to learn how God would have us to work. What does God want us to do? Where does the Bible teach us that? How should we do it? Why should we do it? Those thinking and affections of the world lead to all kinds of problems like living for the weekend. Anybody have a coworker that lives for the weekend? And they're not even shy about it. And when I say live for the weekend, I'm talking about going out and getting drunk, right? Or going out and having some relationship. They live for that. And probably their paycheck is just about spent by the time Monday morning rolls around. That's what I'm talking about. They live for the weekend. Some people, because of bad thinking and bad affections, they're workaholics. And that's not right either. Some people in their work life, they are constantly calculating and scheming, how can I maneuver through my career to get the best for me? And unfortunately, sometimes as Christians, we're only slightly different from that. Okay, we're not transformed by the renewing of our mind, we're just slightly sanitized. In other words, we still live for the weekend, it's just we don't get drunk. Do you think that's really what God means when he says be transformed by the renewing of your mind? Is the only difference between your relationship between your work week and the weekend, if the only difference is that you don't get drunk, I think maybe you could be transformed a little bit more. I mean, there's nothing wrong with looking forward to a break. But do you live for the weekend? Do you push the limits on legal laziness? So when you're at work, you fulfill expectations, but no more. Like if you told me to count 100 paperclips, I am not counting 101. That would just be too much. It would be over my limit. I'm just going to get by. I don't know if it's because of my personality, if it's because I'm a self-righteous sinner, or because of supervisory positions God's put me in, but when I'm out in the marketplace, when I'm at a place of business, and there's a lazy employee, am I the only one who wants to like get after him? I was at a big box store this week, and a huge one, huge, huge store. And I was way back in the back corner looking for some building materials, and I had to ask for help, and they showed me where it was, and so I appreciated that. But as soon as my question had been answered, I kind of went over a little bit, and I turned around and looked. And there was a guy in a forklift and a guy on his feet. And I'm not joking you. Like, OK, this is the aisle of merchandise. And then this is the aisle of merchandise. And here's the walkway in between. And this is the very back of the store. You know what they did? They're like hiding behind the aisle of stuff, kind of leaning like this and just talking to each other. I don't know. I'm like, wait a second. There are a lot of customers in this store. I think probably somebody needs you right now. But hey, they were just content to be lazy. Like they didn't get fired for it. I'm sure there's no rule against, you know, standing and hiding behind the aisle. Probably not. Maybe there should be. But they were just getting by, right? So they answered my question and then got back to, you know, talking about, you know, the local employee gossip. Are we different from that or are we the same? Hmm. Well, I wonder if sometimes our slightly different Christian thinking sounds like this, you know, we'll work till Jesus comes and then we'll be free from this toil and trouble and we'll have no more work to do. Like as if heaven is some kind of eternal retirement, right? I've thought that way. I can't wait for heaven because I am just so ready to, you know, sleep for a thousand years or two. That would be amazing. I mean, I'll even wear a white dress if I have to do it, but just let me have some rest. I don't think we wear the white robes all the time, do you? Probably not. I don't know. But haven't you been tempted to think of heaven as like an eternal retirement? You're holding out on me. I see behind your poker faces. I know. Sometimes, and I've heard this, that, okay, so the really, really good Christians, they like go into, quote, the ministry. And so they're missionaries and they're pastors and they're Christian school teachers. But you know, God needs other people too. You know, we need people that are doctors and lawyers and businessmen so they can make money and give it to the church. And that's the only reason that it's good to be doctors and lawyers and business people. Have you heard that? I have. And it's got a little, that sounds pretty good. Yeah, you know, that person has the ability to make money. Great, because God needs his work to be financed. Yeah, because God's scratching his head wondering how he's going to pay his bills. Does God want people to be in profitable business only so that they can give money to the church and missionaries? Is that the only reason for doing work? If so, that's kind of demotivating. If I'm a business person or, you know, a laborer or a trades person, the only reason I'm doing this is so I can give an offering. Wow. That's thinking that's a little bit different from the world's thinking, but I don't think it's spotless. I don't think it's truly transformed thinking. So how should our faith in Christ make our view of work different? Oh, there's so much I'd like to share. I'll try to hang it all on three points, okay? Number one, we should work after the example of God. As Christians, we should work after the example of God. God himself is a worker. Isn't that great to think about, that God works? Have you thought of it that way before? God works at stuff. Jesus said it himself in John chapter 5. He said, hitherto my father worked and I worked. This is when he's healing somebody on the Sabbath. He did that a lot and they got mad at him a lot. And he says, look, John 5, 17, my father worketh hitherto and I work. Did you ever think about God working? God has, that we know of, in our little part of the universe, I think two major works, the work of creation and the work of redemption. But God works to do those things, and if we're supposed to be like God, if we're supposed to be imitating Him, we can't be like God without being workers. Like if you could be fed without working, if you could not go stir crazy without working, it would still be a good thing for you to work just because God works. And we're supposed to be like Him. So you're in Genesis, look at chapter one, verse 27. We're talking about working after the example of God. Jesus worked, He said His Father worked. His first great work, is creation. Genesis 127. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. We are a reflection of God. We are to be like him and he worked. And right after it says that we're in the image of God, look at verse 28. And God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. So God worked in creation and he made us and he made us like him and he said, now get to work. Do you see the close connection of those ideas? God is a worker and we are to be like Him. We are to reflect His image. In fact, work is part of fulfilling God's design for us. In other words, God made you to work. He created you with that purpose in mind. And if you don't work, it's like if this microphone didn't amplify sound. It's like, well, it was designed to amplify sound. Okay, now it kind of gives us a point of symmetry. If we ever need to know where the center of the pulpit is, we can find it. But it was designed to do something. And so are you. And so if you're not doing something, you're kind of not fulfilling your purpose. Exodus chapter 20 highlights again this idea that God is a worker and he expects us to work. Exodus 20, you might link that with the Ten Commandments, and one of the commandments is to remember the Sabbath day. And part of remembering or honoring the Sabbath day is resting from your work. So biblical view of work is not workaholism. Rest is part of our view. The exception proves the rule, right? Because we're supposed to rest one day in seven, what does that mean about six days out of seven? We're supposed to work, doesn't it? Exodus 20 verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor. Now, we don't consider that one of the Ten Commandments, but it's right there in the Ten Commandments. Six days shalt thou labor. So that means if you labor for one day and rest for six, you got it backwards. Don't matter how rich you are. Verse 10, But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the strangers of the zoo, nor thy gates. Look at verse 11. Again, we're seeing that this pattern of work and rest is mimicking God, who's a worker. For in six days the Lord made, He produced, He created, He put forth energy to produce something, to make something. In six days the Lord made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day. His rest was a change from what He did for the first six days. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. God's a worker and we should work after his example. We're made in his image and so we should be like him. Remember back in Genesis 2 verse 15 it says the Lord God put Adam in the midst of the garden to dress it and to keep it. It's the idea of taking care and maintaining and protecting what God had created. And can I remind you that that's still our job today. We sometimes call it the dominion mandate. The dominion mandate doesn't mean you just eat everything you want and toss it to the side because you're in charge here. It means that you take care of everything. You're responsible for everything. You're the manager while the owner is leaving us here. That's still God's plan. And you can start in a simple way. I recommend starting where you are close and working your way out. All right? So, let's see here. Children are down in kids' church, many of them. There's some children here, some teenagers here. Let me make this suggestion. Start with your bedroom. Exercise the dominion mandate over your sheets and pillowcase. Exercise the dominion mandate over your own carpet. Exercise the dominion mandate over your laundry. I take charge of the dirty laundry. I shall make thee clean. When you do that, you're being like God. Cool? So then when you want to get ready for advanced dominion teenagers, try taking dominion over your lockers. That's heavy stuff right there. Parents, adults, retirees, how about taking dominion of your garage, your attic, your backyard, your car, or your bicycle, whatever you have, take care of it. God gave us this stuff and He says, manage it, take care of it. Don't just use and abuse it. The planet's not disposable. And most of your stuff isn't either. God intends you to take care of it for Him. Thinking again about creation, remember back in the very first verses of the Bible, it says that the earth was without form, and void, and darkness covered the face of the deep. That's what gave me the reminder about teenage bedrooms. But anyways. I'm sorry. I love you all. That's why I get away with saying these things. You love me too, right? They're thinking about it. OK. The earth was without form. That same word is translated in Jeremiah as confusion. So sometimes people refer to the first chaos. It was without form. It was chaotic. It was confusion. And God brought order out of confusion in creation, didn't he? Have you looked around the universe lately? Is there some order in it? Oh my goodness, there's scientific studies done even by unbelievers about the precision of the scientific laws that govern the universe. And whether it's from intermolecular forces or the pull of gravity or all these laws of physics that govern everything we do, they are precisely tuned to sustain life on planet Earth. There is order that came out of the chaos. God brought order out of chaos. He brought beauty from emptiness. Darkness covered the face of the earth. There was nothing. The Holy Spirit moved upon the waters. Just think of one big ball of water. And out of that nothingness, God brought beauty. What a great time of year to be preaching this message. Have you looked around outside lately? Are the flowers amazing or what? And the songs of the birds, the different shades of green they grow, and we're not even in Ireland. I mean, there is a lot of beauty to be seen. God didn't have to make the world beautiful, but he did, because that's who he is. He can't help but make beauty. Those of you that are into fish and fishering, fishermaning, whatever, killing those little fin creatures. Aren't they incredible? There are some beautiful fish. You go to a pet store, you go to a zoo and you see these exotic fish. They are beautiful. I was watching a bumblebee buzzing in the backyard the other day. You know, it was trying to take off. He's so big, you know. It's incredible how it all works. God's creation is beautiful. That's part of what he did. He brought order from chaos, he brought beauty from emptiness, and he brought goodness from nothing. Remember, at the end of every day, he said, that's good. That's good. When's the last time you did something and afterwards you could say, that's good? Maybe I should rephrase that. When's the last time you did something and someone else could say, that's good? Like, you do work and the boss says, that's a good job. You do something at home and your family notices like, hey, that looks good. That's what God does. That's what he did. That's what he wants us to do. You see in his creation that he produced all this beauty and this goodness and this order. is what you do, and by the way, this whole topic of work, I'm not just talking about your vocation, okay? I'm talking about your labors and your efforts. So whether you're a teenager without a job, whether you're retired, whether you're working at home or whatever, that's beside the point. We all have a work to do, don't we? When you do that work, are you bringing out regularity? God brought order to the universe. Are you bringing out functionality? God made this world to function together in an incredible way. If you've not studied ecology and how the different creatures that God has made support each other and sustain each other in this beautiful system. Is that in any way like what you do? Do you bring a functionality and a community and a regularity about? Or do you just kind of produce chaos and disorder and darkness? Maybe I'm using too big words. I heard somebody say, leave things better than you found them. Can I just boil it all down to that? Whether it's your car, your bicycle, your room, your house, your garage, your workstation, your company, whatever God has put in your hand, leave it better than you found it. God would do that, don't you think? What if Jesus had your job? And let's say at that workplace there are shared tools. Do you think Jesus would put the tools back where they belong? Do you think he would break things and not replace them or fix them or report them so they could be reordered? I think Jesus would be a responsible employee, don't you? His work ethic would be such that he would leave things better than he found them. I can't imagine Jesus going home from work, going, hey, it's five o'clock, I can't clean up. I guess the next guy will have to take care of that. I don't think Jesus would do that. I'm going to stay until the job's done. I'm going to make it look good. I'm going to make it right. Look at his example in creation and follow that. We can't create ex nihilo. We can't just make things appear by speaking, but we can create, can't we? Is your life marked by a positive input of creation, of creative energy and effort? I was telling Brother Loran before we came out, I'm so excited about the music of the service because music is creation, isn't it? It's making sound that's beautiful. It's producing something where there was nothing, and it brings honor and glory to God. Music should be beautiful, not ugly. I won't get on too many soapboxes, but there's some music that it just ain't. And by the way, across the genres, like there's classical music that's garbage. like noise symphonies. And of course, there's rap music that's angry and violent and destructive, and that's not beautiful either. So all across the spectrum, there's ugly stuff. Christians ought to be marked by that which is beautiful. We ought to be creative as God was creative. Do you pick things up? Do you organize? Do you beautify? I'm so thankful that our Pastor Emeritus led in a great example of picking up garbage when he saw it lying around. And I look around and I see all kinds of people in leadership positions in this ministry that still, they can't walk across the campus without picking up some kind of garbage. That's great. That's what we're talking about, isn't it? Leaving things better than we found them. Okay, I admit it. The whole reason I'm preaching this message is so that you'll come spread mulch around the flower beds. Not really, but I thought of that part way through. I thought, oh, this works out really well. Not that I would manipulate or guilt trip anyone, far be it from me. But honestly, do you think God wants this corner to look good? I think he does. It's his property. And people shouldn't be walking, driving by saying, what a dump. What goes on there? Like if it belongs to God, it ought to look good. We ought to take care of it. And it's not going to be taken care of on its own. And here's the depressing news. We're going to put all this mulch down, and guess what's going to need to happen next year? It's going to need more mulch. We're going to weed the flower beds, and guess what's going to happen? We're going to have to weed them again. We're going to prune the trees and guess what's going to happen? We're going to have to prune them again. That's the curse, right? But God is a creating God. He brings beauty and order and goodness from the opposite. Do you? Do you maintain and improve your home? And sometimes I warn us from this pulpit that in America we can worship home improvement. That's a bad thing, okay? HGTV is a real temptation for some of us, right? Bob Vila and all the rest of them. But neither should we let what God has given to us fall down around our ears. We need to find that balance, don't we? If God gave you a house, take care of your house. God gave you a tent, take care of your tent. Whatever he gives you, take care of it. That is what God would do. Build things. make paintings, sing songs, take pictures, spread mulch, make things better than they used to be. When you do that, you are following the example of God's work. That's His first work, the work of creation. His second and even greater work, think about that, greater than the work of creation is the work of redemption. And it is work. Jesus said that His work was to, that He completed His work when He was finishing the work of redemption. He came to do the work that the Father sent Him to do. How does that apply to us? Can I follow God's example in the work of redemption? Only in a small way. I can't, I can't die to pay for people's sins. But what was Jesus doing when He died to pay for people's sins? He was doing what He could do to help those who needed help. Do you do that? Do you have a philosophy of work that says, I want to help people? I want to minister to them. I want to meet them where they are and give them what they need. Jesus said, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. He came for sick people. Do you help sick people? He came to love sinners and to seek the lost. That's his second great work, to help people in need. This is going to come up in our third point, which I have a feeling is going to be next week. So I'll abbreviate just by saying this. More incredible than the creation of every species on the planet, more amazing than the countless stars in the universe, more complex than the human brain or a single cell, is the fact that God became a man to pay for our sins. I don't know if you've heard the gospel before. We call it the good news. The best news. We all have this thing we carry around inside us called guilt. It's not guilt feelings. It's actual real guilt. You don't just kind of, because of psychological norms around you, have this mal-feeling because of what you've been told to feel. You've been trained and programmed. No, no, no. You have written on your heart a conscience that tells you, you shouldn't do this, and then you go ahead and do it. You have a conscience that says, you should do this, and you don't. And because you violate your conscience on a regular basis, you have this thing called guilt. You know that there is a standard that God, my creator, has established, and I have not lived up to it. And so you have this heavy burden that is around you all the time. And you may forget about it by seeking pleasure, by having fun, or watching a movie, or listening to a song, or going on some excursion. But then it comes right back. That feeling of, I am not measured up. I am in danger of the judgment of God. That's a real thing. It's a universal thing. Every single one of us has that. but God in his mercy because of the great love wherewith he loved us. Remember I said he cares about you more than all the galaxies. He loves mankind and he says I don't want them to suffer in their guilt and I don't want to suffer from their guilt. I don't want them to pay the price for the laws they've broken. They didn't just break the speed limit. They didn't just break the rules at school. They broke the laws of God himself. Breaking those laws has the severest penalty imaginable. Eternal punishment in hell. Separation from God. Death upon death upon death. That's the penalty that we have all earned by what we've done and God says, I can't let them pay it. I love them too much. This will I do. I will humble myself and take on the form of one of them. I will live among them. I will never do wrong. I will show them what they should be and aren't. I will teach them about me. I will show them what God is like. And then they will reject me and kill me. And because I am perfect, I will be a sacrifice. I will be an infinite payment for them because I'm an infinite God and I've been infinitely holy. My death will be infinitely efficacious, infinitely valuable to pay for every single person's sin. I'll pay it for them so they don't have to, so that they can come and be with me in fellowship forever. That's what I want. And so God did all of that in the person of Jesus Christ. But because God wants us to love Him, not just to be little robots that are His machines, He gave us a choice. He's held it out to us, friends. He's offered it to you. Here you go. Here you go. Would you like this? Here, do you want? I'm giving you eternal life. I'm inviting you to my house. And you have to RSVP. Just the fact that you're invited doesn't mean that you're at the party. Just the fact that someone bought you a gift doesn't mean that you get to enjoy it. You have to receive the gift. You have to attend and respond to the invitation. Have you? I think I know some of you fairly well and some of you not so much. The fact is I can't see anybody's heart in here. I don't know your relationship with God. And whether you've been to church a thousand times, but you've not really made this yours, or whether you're newer to church, or you used to go to church, and you're coming to church again, I don't know your state, but I'm telling you, this is the best news. This is the greatest work that God has ever done, and you can be a part of it. Please, don't let his gift go to waste. Don't let Jesus' death be for nothing. Don't let His suffering be of no use to you. Come. Come while He calls you. God loves people. He has good things for you. But you have to say yes. You have to turn from your sin and trust in Jesus. Our first point for Christian thinking about work is that we need to follow the example of God's work, His work in creation and His work of redemption. I'll introduce our second point and then we'll finish up next time. The second big thought for us as Christians to have our mind transformed from the world is that we should work for the glory of God. Work for the glory of God. And the wonderful thing here is that this can be done regardless of what your work is. It's not as if just certain people can do their work for the glory of God and other people, well, they have to do this job, but they can't really do it for the glory of God. So they have to hurry up and finish their job and just get it done as quickly as possible with as little effort as possible so they can get to volunteering to shovel mulch around the church, because that's glory for God. Okay, well, mulch around the church can be done for God's glory, but so can driving a truck, so can being a nurse, so can changing oil, so can being a teacher, so can being a plumber, or a carpenter, or an accountant, or a businessman, a computer programmer. Whatever your work is, it can be done for God's glory. That gives meaning and purpose to us that people who aren't Christians, they don't have that. You don't do your work just to turn a bigger profit or to get ahead in your field. You don't just do your work because it makes you feel good. You do your work for God's glory. A couple verses and then we'll have to come back to it later. But turn to 1 Timothy 6. This is important for you to see. 1 Timothy 6. We're talking about doing our job well, doing our job with excellence, doing our job with the right attitude so that people see us and somehow give glory to God. I think Joseph was a great example of this. I mean, whatever job you gave him, he did it well. Whether he was taking care of other prisoners, whether he was managing the agriculture, or whether he was vice president of the entire empire. Whatever Joseph did, he did it well, and the organization that he was serving prospered because of it. When Joseph was in Potiphar's house, Potiphar was doing well because Joseph was his manager. He did a great job. Daniel was kind of the same way. 1 Timothy 6.1, let as many servants as are under the yoke, okay? And if you feel like you're under the yoke at your job, you're bearing this burden. It doesn't say here that it's a special kind of work or it's work that you love or work that you feel is really meaningful. Honestly, this is talking about slaves. These are people who are not their own and they have to do what their owner tells them to do. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor. Treat your master respectfully. Say, yes, ma'am. No, sir. Right away, sir. Give respect and honor to your master, or since we're not slaves, we could say our boss, our manager, supervisor. Give honor to them. Why? that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. If people know you're a Christian and you're not a good employee, people are like, ah, Christians, I don't want to hire any more of those. I don't know what their Christianity does for them, but it doesn't work well nine to five. Shame on you if that's you. Shame on me if that's me. People should see how we treat our authorities at work And because of that, give glory to God instead of blaspheming God. It's the same idea as Matthew 5, 16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. Now, good works there can mean, you know, kindness and charity and benevolent acts, but I don't think it's a stretch to say your good works are working good, working well. They may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. I hope that people at your workplace know that you're a Christian. If they do, and you are like a really good employee, that makes God look good. You say, well, there's other employees that are more talented than me. Okay, fine. Are they more punctual than you? Are they more diligent than you? Are they more consistent than you? I'm not talking about being talented. I'm talking about being a good employee. Are you letting your good works glorify your Father in heaven? Or are you just kind of standing behind the aisle in the back of the store and hoping you don't get seen? Don't do shoddy work. If you build stuff at your job, build it well. Don't be lazy in your sales position. You enthusiastically go after that sale for all you're worth. You're working with technology or programming or coding. You ought to seek to have no characters wrong. Do the best that you can so it looks good for God. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your mind. If we're to be different from the world, just unspotted, like totally different in our work mentality, we need to, first of all, follow God's example of work in creation, making things more beautiful, being productive, being organized, being helpful and doing good things. We need to follow His work of redemption and helping other people and seeking out the lost and the needy and giving them of what they need. And then, another idea in our work life is that we need to work in such a way that people can look at us and say, wow, whatever God did in that person's life, that's a God I'm interested in. That that is a great God, if that's the kind of people that serve Him. Is that testimony you have in your work? Again, not just your vocation where you get a paycheck, in the way that you keep your home, in the chores that you do, in the way that you do your homework, in everything you do, do your very, very best. Thank you for joining us today. We'd love to hear from you. Our email address is GraceGlory7 at Juno.com. GraceGlory7 at Juno.com. Pastor David M. Atkinson also has a ministry on Facebook and invites you to connect with him there. Now, until the next time, remember to walk softly with the Lord.