When you discover your life’s passions, follow them, and serve God’s purpose for your life with them, you can share Solomon’s experience. He said in Ecclesiastes 2:10, “My heart took delight in all my work.” According to him, work is a blessing from God. When we devote ourselves to it we can find true joy, fulfillment as well as make significant contributions to the world in which we live. Paul wanted the Colossians to have that joy in life so he exhorted them, “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for human beings” (Colossians 3:23). I always like to add to that verse, “…because you are!” Everything you do is something that is evaluated, tested, measured, and will be eventually rewarded by God. In a very real sense, we are all working for God in all our life’s efforts. Solomon advises those who were shepherds to “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds…” The phrase “know well” is translated as “put your heart into it” by the NLT.

When you put your heart into your work, it results in great blessings for yourself and your family and everyone else around you. Solomon goes on to use the farming and shepherding metaphor to make his point. He writes “After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in, your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field. And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servants” (Proverbs 27:25-27). Although that passage deals with physical blessings, I’m sure the point is “satisfaction” and “fulfillment” from the works of our hands. In like the New Jerusalem translation of Colossians 3:23-24. It reads, “Whatever your work is, put your heart into it as done for the Lord and not for human beings, knowing that the Lord will repay you by making you his heirs. It is Christ the Lord that you are serving.”

Hezekiah is another great example. He was one of the better kings who focused his attention on God’s work in the world and the centrality of God’s place in his people’s lives. The testimony recorded of him is found in 2 Chronicles 31:21. It says, “And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.” There is not greater satisfaction, or prosperity, than to serve God in the way He has gifted us. F. B. Meyer wrote, “The man who does his business with all his heart, is sure to prosper. To put your heart into your work is like genius manipulating common materials, till their worth becomes priceless, just because of what has been put into it.”

Chuck
“Whatever your work is, put your heart into it…” Colossians 3:23-24