Satisfaction in Work

Last updated on: June 27, 2014 at 12:18 pm by Bob Robinson

Satisfaction in Work 2014-06-27T12:18:20-04:00 Bob Robinson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

At the end of a long day of doing lawn work—mowing, weeding, doing the mulch, trimming the hedges, edging the flower gardens, cutting down dead tree branches—I love to sit on my back deck with a cold lemonade and look at the work of my hands. “Ahhhh… This is satisfying!” I am proud of my work. I see all that I’ve done, and it is good.

We are created in the image of this working God – the God who finds satisfaction and pleasure in creating, sustaining and redeeming. When I think about this, it brings a smile to my face. No wonder I like to create (I love to write, to draw, to come up with new ideas for ministry); no wonder I like to sustain (I love to take something somebody already has made and work with it, tweaking it, modifying it, maybe even improving it); no wonder I like to take part in redemption (I am highly motivated to bring about justice and shalom in the world around me, I love to see somebody meet Christ for the first time, I enjoy helping a person begin to realize their God-given potential).

A “Christian perspective on work” is different from “Being ethical in the workplace,” or “Seeing your workplace as a mission field” or “Working with excellence as a witness to others” (what Amy Sherman calls the “Thee Es”: Ethics, Evangelism, and Excellence.)

While Christians are to be ethical and evangelistic and excellent in every aspect of life (exemplifying honesty, integrity, and love as we work but also as we play, as we do our taxes and also as we care for our families, as we interact with people and also as we live in our private lives), we need to look at work in a much more specific manner.

What is work?
How does it reflect God?
How are we to glorify God in work?
How are we to understand “calling” or “vocation?”

These are the deeper issues that I’m dealing with at (re)integrate.

God is a worker, and since we are created in the image of God, we too are intrinsically workers. But, contrary to our normal thinking, work is meant to be enjoyable and satisfying! We are meant to find pleasure in our work.

Think for a moment about the character of God. He works, not because he has to, but because he wants to. God works, and finds pleasure in it.

As we read the beautiful poetry of the Creation that opens the book of Genesis, we hear the repeated refrain at the end of each day: “God saw that it was good.” And then when he finished, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). You hear in those words the satisfaction God has in the work he has accomplished. Psalm 104 proclaims, “May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works.”

God continues to work in sustaining the whole universe. The Apostle Paul explains that “all things were created by him (Christ) and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17). God is not sitting idle, letting things go as they go. H. C. G. Moule wrote, “He keeps the cosmos from becoming a chaos.”

And God’s greatest work is the redemption that comes through Christ. And God takes great pleasure in this work! We read in Ephesians, “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace… With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (Ephesians 1:5-6, 8-9).

What about you? As an image-bearer of the Triune God, how do you reflect the God who enjoys and finds satisfaction in work?

Previous Post

June 24, 2014

Video: Amy Sherman Gives Three Reasons Why Faith and Work Conversations Matter

Next Post

June 27, 2014 Neo-Dortian? Neo-Puritan? Neo-Nuff?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category arts and entertainment audio/video bible / theology business church college community culture education faith family government/politics leadership media medicine podcast science & tech social sector tech Uncategorized work and calling

Select a Month November 2025 May 2025 October 2024 September 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 July 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 July 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Paul offer to do if Onesimus owes Philemon anything?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Pray for resolution Pay it back himself Forgive the debt Have the church pay it