What do you say when someone asks you what you do?
We might say that we are retired, in paid employment of some kind or looking for work, unable to work because of health or disability, volunteering, a full-time carer or some combination of the above. We might not have a ready answer but, whatever we do, we all pass the time somehow.
But what if we are asked “How, or in what way, do you do what you do?” That question might give us more pause for thought. What would you say?
In 1749 Charles Wesley wrote the words:
Forth in Thy name, O Lord, I go, my daily labour to pursue;
Although Wesley speaks of “daily labour”, the Apostle Paul makes it clear that this attitude is not just for those who go out to work:
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17
The second verse of Wesley’s hymn begins:
The task Thy wisdom hath assigned, O let me cheerfully fulfil;
So, in May 2013, what is the task that God in His wisdom has assigned for you? What does it mean for you to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus? Can we trust that our Sovereign God may have assigned to us a role that we did not expect and might not have chosen for ourselves? Or perhaps we are settled and comfortable, yet sense His calling us to a different task in his name.
Just as an ambassador acts, not in his or her own name but in the name of the state he or she represents, so let us faithfully and thankfully serve the Lord Jesus, whatever we do.
