“The work I do isn’t as important as the person I become.”
When I saw those words in Our Daily Bread one morning in devotions, I wasn’t sure if I agreed with them.
What if the work you do is sharing the good news of Jesus with other people? Surely that work is more important than me.
But then I remembered some of the things I’d been reminded of as I meditated on Sabbath rest:
・God doesn’t need me to do His work (the world keep spinning when I step away to rest)
・I am expendable — He could use someone else
・He can draw people to Himself without any human being at all
So why does He use me?
Because He wants me to experience the delight and growth that come from a life of faith and partnering with Him. Because He’s decided to work in and through us, not apart from us. Because God is a relational Person, and He invites us in to His relationality.
Why does the person I become matter?
Because He loves me. Because He wants to invite me into His relationality, but my character influences how deep I can go. Because He doesn’t leave anyone behind, not even those who are already His. He keeps seeking and saving us through our whole lives. Because who I become can sabotage or augment the work that I do. Because who I become either draws me closer to Him or pushes me further from Him. Because who I become can influence who others become in the interconnected body of Christ. Because I am precious to Him, and He wants the best for me.
Because doing flows out of being. When we get mixed up and start to think being flows out of doing, we get ourselves mucked up—because we sin, and often what we do is sinful. If being comes out of doing, we will always veer towards sin.
Because I can’t earn God’s favour, but because I am His, I possess it. Because Jesus rewrote the ideal woman from Proverbs 31 to Luke 10. Only one thing is necessary, and that’s sitting at Jesus’ feet.
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