How Our Works Become Good

October 2010 – Grace & Truth Magazine

How Our Works Become Good

“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV

A friend whose house we often visit has a small plastic sign on her kitchen counter that reads:

“Only one life, ’Twill soon be past; Only what’s done For Christ will last.”

The sign is appropriately located where she serves the Lord as she prepares meals for her family, cleans up after them, and otherwise cares for their daily needs. When the dishes are brought to the sink after a meal, that little sign sits right in the midst of them to remind her that even the most menial tasks gain untold significance when they are done for the Lord. But as the verse above reminds us, we must consciously and continually do them for His glory, not our own.

There is a lot of talk these days about the search for significance – doing something worthwhile with our lives. I work with some really dedicated servants of God who spend their days printing tracts, packing them for mailing and boxing them for third-world cargo shipments. A visitor observing these repetitious tasks commented on how boring they must be. Her words reminded me of that sign on my friend’s kitchen counter. Any work – whether it’s feeding a family or printing spiritual food for hungry souls around the world or being a doctor or a teacher or a mechanic or a farmer or a whatever – only gains lasting significance if it is done for Christ. Otherwise it’s just so much “wood, hay or straw” (1 Cor. 3:12).

Paul tells us how to exalt the lowly tasks of everyday life – whether as masters or servants, whether at home or in the workplace – when he writes, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Col. 3:23-24). Do this and your life will be richer both now and in eternity.

By Larry Ondrejack