Doing your job...well

I read a story in the Mail and Guardian, it's about an investigation by the South Africa authorities on how one of the suspected terrorist in the Kenya shooting could have been using a forged South African passport. You can read the article here. It made me think of the quote by Martin Luther King Jr "If a man is called to to be a street sweeper, he should sweep the streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'here lived a great sweeper who did his job well'." If it's true that she got a SA passport, I imagine the person who helped in acquiring the forged passport probably thought nothing much in aiding and issuing the passport. He was happy to get a few rands in his pocket but didn't realise that this little illegal action will result in the senseless killing of 67 people and injury to over 170 people (article). This guy had no idea that issuing a little thing like a passport illegally will have such dire consequences. I think of the guys who inspected and cleared the clothing factory in Bangladesh when they knew it was not okay to operate. This resulted in the death of over 1,100 people and 2,500 people being injured. You can read about the aftermath here. They would never imaged such a wrongful quality pass could lead to such a horrific accident. 

This made me think of myself and the days when I don't feel like giving my best at work. When work feels like a burden. And payday becomes my favourite thing about working. Yet as a child of God I am called to work not for my employer but for the glory of God (Colossians 3:23). When I know that I am working for God not man then I realise that nothing is in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 puts it like this, "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.". John piper says" Christ puts us into a yoke of labour and he lifts the burden from us Matthew 11:28-30. Now we serve in the strength that he supplies 1 Peter 4:11, and we work hard in reliance on his grace...This is an amazing life."

That's why it's so important to spend time with Jesus often so that he may lift the burden of work and give you the grace you need to do even your small part well! Making your contribution meaningful. 

Putting the spark back into work

God bless

Additional:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fw17R6FuTrY

Image is from google images