May 3, 2013 … Working As Worship

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 123

Passage of the Day: 1st Corinthians 15: 58 [NLT] ……  
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord’s work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
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 Contextual Study of today’s passage: 1st Corinthians, Chapter 15 [NLT] … Go to this link … 
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 Reference Passage #1: Romans 12: 1-2: [Our work is our worship.] … [NKJV] …  
1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. 

 My Journal for Today: If you read and meditate through the context chapter for today’s highlight passage, the last verse from 1st Corinthians, Chapter 15, you’ll see the biblical support for my devotional editor, Os Hillman’s, contention that there is a remnant of Christians who’re out there in the workplace (in their jobs, careers, and professions), who live out what that verse exhorts from the Spirit-inspired writing of the Apostle Paul. And I’ve tried to capture that premise in my title for my devotional blog this morning, Working As Worship.

 And the Apostle Paul also said much the same thing in one of the pivotal passages in the book of Romans, … Romans 12: 1-2, declaring that everything we choose to do in life should be a “living sacrifice” of worship unto the Lord, doing all we can to let the transforming power of God’s Spirit to transform us away from worshipping the world; … to live in such a way that our sacrifice of labor is not in vain, as 1st Cor. 15: 58 asserts, but rather, our work becomes our way of witnessing for and/or worshipping our Lord.

And so, I’m praying that any who are reading along with me, maybe only one of you Christians out there, will realize that you don’t have to be a “missionary” on the mission fields of some 3rd world country to be God’s missionary, working through your witness of worship … EVERY DAY of your life. Whatever we’re doing, wherever God has planted us, we should be working to be fruitful as our worship of Christ and our “living sacrifice” on His altar of purpose in our lives.

Therefore, when our heads hit the pillow, seeking to rest in sleep tonight, I pray that we can all say in prayer, … “What I did today, Lord, was my worship of work for You; and because it was for You, it was not in vain.” And if we can say that – deeply from our hearts – we will sleep well tonight.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, today, as yesterday, my work is my worship … my living sacrifice … for You. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to be a living sacrifice for my Father’s glory today. … Amen