Avodah

The Gift of Surrender

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” – Romans 12:18,19 How do you feel about your boss? I’m guessing that a few of you have inspiring, fair and all-around great bosses. I’ve experienced this and wouldn’t you agree it makes a world of difference? When you work at a job with people you admire and whom you enjoy seeing, you are blessed more than most! But what if the opposite is true? How do you handle it if you have authoritarian figures in your life who take advantage of their position and attempt to keep you from carrying out your responsibilities? I’ve had this experience as well. As hard as we may try to

April 2, 2022 No Comments

Heavenly Assignments

“In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’” – John 5:17 As we talked about yesterday, non-work is not ideal, but our culture is bent towards thinking that leisure is King. We have come to believe that Heaven is a place where we sit around eternally and eat from a buffet, float on clouds, and fly. However, the truth is that there will be work for us to do there, too, but it will be the best kind of work. In the next life, we will have meaningful, life-giving assignments, the type that we were meant to experience before the fall. In short, it will be avodah. There are probably many of us who think seriously about the afterlife and at one time or another feared that it might be boring. The good news is

March 29, 2022 No Comments

You Are Made to Work!

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” – Genesis 1:28 We talked a few days ago about how the norm in our society seems to be to worship the idea of doing nothing. We are always rushing to get through the next project or the next day of work, or the next class so we can reach a place of simply being idle. However, the truth is that we were made to do things and when we do, we find our greatest satisfaction! Did you know that part of the blessing of the Garden of Eden was the work that God gave Adam and Eve to do? As opposed to being drudgery, they were designed

March 28, 2022 2 Comments

Three Attitudes About Work

“Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord, Christ.” – Colossians 3:23-24 Yesterday, we introduced the concept of avodah, or the fact that our work is both worship and service. Today, I want to give you three common attitudes that our society holds about work that get “turned on their head” when we begin to let Jesus infiltrate our thinking about our jobs! First of all (and we alluded to this one yesterday), there is the person who just lives for work to be over. We see this play out frequently, maybe even amongst our friends and family, when someone exists only for the weekend or for their next vacation, and they feel a sense of dread every time Sunday afternoon rolls around. Why? Because their next

March 24, 2022 No Comments

Avodah: Hebrew for work, worship and service

“Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord, Christ.” – Colossians 3:22-24 Did you know that surveys suggest that roughly 65 percent of Americans really dislike their jobs and that at least 15 percent hate them? I know, hate is a strong word. Considering that you typically work eight hours a day, five days a week, this can be a problem! To help us change the way we view our careers, we’re going to begin a series of devotions dealing with how God works in and through us to cultivate a joy that brings new meaning to our work-life. When you think about your favorite job, what comes to mind? Were you ever employed in a place that, although you may have worked hard, you felt satisfied

March 23, 2022 No Comments

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23,24 Did you know that 65% of Americans really dislike their jobs and that at least 15% hate them? Considering that you typically spend at least eight hours a day, five days a week working, this can be problematic! The good news, though, is that we can change the way we think about work. To help us do that, we’re going to begin a series of devotions dealing with how God moves in us to cultivate joy that brings new meaning to our work-life. When you think about your favorite job, what comes to mind? Were you ever employed in a place that, although you

March 23, 2019 4 Comments

Avodah

The Gift of Surrender

Heavenly Assignments

You Are Made to Work!

Three Attitudes About Work

Avodah: Hebrew for work, worship and service

Avodah

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