Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, after our likeness ..." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
AS CHRIST'S PEOPLE, WE DON'T "WORK LIKE THE DEVIL"
As the Labor Day weekend draws closer it's good for us to give thought to how God made us to be reflections of himself in the way we work. Unlike animals, we humans do not simply act on instinct, but give thought to what we do and why. Like God we plan and act and reflect on what we've done. (cp. Genesis 1:30, God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.)
Furthermore, as people reborn through faith in Christ, we know that what we do reflects our new relationship with God. We want to work in a way that honors the Savior who redeemed us and all we are to be his own. This is one of the things that make the Christian life rich and exciting.
Look closely at the simplest use of your God-given gifts and abilities and tell me if you don't see there wonderful evidence of our being made to reflect in our work the very nature of our Creator, the Triune God. (By the way, isn't that the simplest definition of work: namely, the things we do?)
When, like God, we use His creation to bless others, we 1) begin with a plan; and then 2) act out what we have planned; and 3) bring that resulting action into the life of the person being helped. Just think back on something the Lord recently led you to do for someone else, no matter how small, whether for a friend or family member or stranger. Now, maybe you're thinking, "True enough, but how does thinking on this three-step breakdown of work as a blessing to others help me to give thanks to God in the things I do?" Well here's one way. God has not only planned and carried out His plan and made personal that plan in creating us, the triune God has done the same in redeeming us. The Father planned our redemption in eternity. The Son of God fulfilled that plan when he "came down from heaven for us humans and our salvation." And the Holy Spirit through the word about Christ made the blessing of forgiveness and new life our own through the gift of faith in Jesus.
O give thanks unto the Lord that He permits us redeemed sinners to reflect His loving, saving nature in the things that we do-- in work-- even to the shining forth of His triune glory.
