Well, the scriptures teach us that as we do our work, we are to work for God, doing the best that God has called us to. As we work, we are to work for God, doing the best that we can, that God has called us to. In fact, we almost see these identical words in Colossians 3. Why don't you turn there with me? Colossians 3, page 1180. If any of you have a Bible from the back. Colossians 3, look at verse 23. Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men. So in whatever you do, whatever your hand finds to do, including most especially work, here in this context, the application is work for us, work heartily as to the Lord and not unto man." So far, so good. We know that. We've heard that. Well, what I want to argue for tonight is that this verse has a big, big implication that we have often overlooked. Here it is. Here's the implication. Here's my argument. If we can do our jobs, or anything for that matter, but let's just stick with our jobs, whether outside of the home or inside of the home, paid or unpaid, if we can do our work as unto the Lord, then it follows that our work is, in some sense, service to God. Our work is, in some sense, service to God. To put it simply, my argument tonight, or what I want to state is, your work is service to God. Recently this jumped off the page at me from this passage. Look at verse 23 again. Verse 24, "...knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. What? Come again, Paul? No, I serve the Lord when I usher by being a deacon, by preaching a sermon, by teaching a Sunday school class, by taking care of the kids in nursery, by evangelizing my neighbors, by mopping the kitchen floor. Are you telling me, Paul, that I serve God by going to work? Yes. Yes, that is what Paul is saying. You serve God by shoving around mounds of paper. That's what I do at work. You serve God by raising and teaching your kids. You serve God by doing the laundry. See, the reformers in the 16th century They recovered this idea that your work is service to God so many years ago. They lived in a time when people thought that if you want to serve God, then become a monk, a priest, or a nun. The pastors and the missionaries of that day. But the Reformers came along, And they argued, not only do religious workers serve God, the pastors and the missionaries, but also do the butcher, baker and candlestick maker, is how Luther put it. They weren't arguing, they were not arguing against vocational service in the church. they were arguing against seeing vocational service as the only way to serve God. That's what they were arguing against, is seeing vocational service as the only way to serve God. Therefore, since your work is service to God, I want to offer three brief implications for our lives by asking this question. Why does it matter that my work is service to God? Okay, I know that. That's great. You've told me that, and I believe that from this passage. Why does it matter that my work is service to God? Well, three implications along the lines of feeling, thinking, and doing. Feeling, thinking, and doing. First, feeling. Here's the first implication along the lines of feeling. Don't feel inferior because you aren't serving God in vocational ministry. God calls very few Christians to vocational ministry. The rest he calls to serve him in other ways. So don't feel like a second-class Christian because you aren't serving God as a pastor or a missionary, or you aren't married to a pastor or a missionary. Vocational ministry is not more spiritual than non-vocational ministry. Let me repeat that. Vocational ministry is not more spiritual than non-vocational ministry. It's just a different ministry calling. Non-vocational ministry is a different ministry calling. In fact, you could almost say that the real ministry is not vocational ministry at all. It's not. And I say this because the calling of pastors according to Ephesians 4.12 is to do what? It's to equip the saints for the work of service in their callings as policemen, as bus drivers, as artists, as custodial managers, as teachers, as students, as deacons, as Sunday school teachers. You do the work of the ministry. So that's the first implication along the lines of feeling. The second implication that I think can be drawn from this is along the lines of thinking. So think with me for a moment. Since work is service to God, we must We must think biblically about our work. We must think biblically about the work that we do, because it is service to God. And when you start to think biblically about your work, you will talk differently about your work. You will. When you're thinking biblically about your work, you will talk differently about your work. So, for example, so often we refer to non-vocational ministry as, quote, secular work. Now, I understand why this phrase is used, and in certain contexts it's appropriate to say secular work, but I think we should ultimately shy away from this language as a norm, as a general rule, because it is ultimately misleading, causing people to feel less motivated about their worldly jobs. I would rather we say, I serve the Lord as a military officer. I serve the Lord as a bus driver. I serve Christ as a pastor. I serve Christ as a teacher to my children. You see, to me, saying like that is more biblical language. And interestingly, when you start to talk more biblically about your work, I think that in turn helps us to think more biblically about our jobs. And also along the lines of thinking, when you think about it, when you're thinking about your work, work is ultimately, it's not fundamentally about working to get a paycheck. It's not fundamentally about working to receive money. It's not fundamentally about receiving money, as one has said, so you can buy your kids shoes, so that they can go to school, so that they can get a job, and so that then they can start the process all over again. Work is not fundamentally about that. Work is also not fundamentally, listen, it's also not fundamentally about earning money so that you can give to the church where the real work of the ministry happens. No, work is about serving Christ. It's about serving the Lord Christ. Yes, we should buy our kids shoes, and we should give money to the church, but that's not the fundamental purpose of work. It's about serving Christ and our world, what He has called us to do. So that's the implication along the lines of thinking. The third implication is along the lines of doing. Thinking rightly about our jobs, about our work, will help us, I believe, perform better at work. It'll help us perform better at work. Listen, I know of no pastor that thinks that their role as a pastor as a kind of second-class kind of occupation in which they hope God will be pleased with their work as a pastor. No pastor thinks like that. I hope God is pleased with his occupation. No! They don't think that. And I know of no pastor, theoretically, that does not do their work heartily to the Lord because they know that it is the Lord Christ whom they serve. It's the same with you. It's the same with you. The same is true for all non-vocational ministry employment. Therefore, here's the massive therefore, perform your work well. Even as you go to work tomorrow and you feel unmotivated or you feel unfulfilled, Think about the fact that you are serving the Lord Christ. Work with all your might because you are serving Jesus in the world. Improve your skills. Climb the ladder. Get the promotion. Be the best you can be at what God has called you to, doing it heartily as ultimately for the service of Christ. So my goal tonight was simple. My goal was to encourage you. I hope I've encouraged you with these words, that your work is service to Christ, to God. And I think when you get a hold of this truth, as simple as it is, I think it's going to have a massive implication for really how you feel about work, how you think about work, and then how you perform your work. So, as we enter Labor Day this weekend, hopefully you get a day off. As we enter Labor Day, let us rejoice that all of our labors, all of our labors, if done honorably in the church and in the world, are service to our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen. Let me pray and then we'll take some requests together. Father, we thank you for your Word. Lord, we are so grateful that we can serve you in the various ways that you have called us. We thank you that the work you've called us to is not meaningless, it's not pointless, but it is for the purpose of serving our Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, we pray that this truth would change us, as simple as it is, we pray that it would change how we feel, it would change how we think, it would change ultimately how we perform our jobs. that we would do so to the best as we can that you have called us to for your honor and glory. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.