Make Today Count! Devotionals

     Perspective is everything, isn't it?

     I'll call her "Ellen," not her real name, but a very real woman who is still living and who loves the Lord so much.  Now in her 80's, Ellen has lived in a mill-village community all her life.  She dropped out of school when she was barely a teenager and went to work in the mill nearby.  There she worked for more than 45 years, earning her weekly paycheck.  That's 8 hours a day, 5 or 6 days a week, for more than 4-and-one-half decades (about 100,000 hours) of actual service there in the mill.  Reflecting upon those years of daily labor she commented to me, with a deep passion, "I hated every single minute of it."

     When she retired, she went back to work for a fast food chain and for 20 years she couldn't wait to get up in time to be there by 4:00 a.m. in order to make several large batches of breakfast biscuits prior to 6:00 a.m. opening.  She loved her new job!

     How different would Ellen's life have been for those 45 years if she had understood that instead of just earning a paycheck, she was on call for the Lord and His personal representative there in her part of that mill?  Sitting behind a weaving loom is not necessarily glamorous, but what if she had known that she was an agent of the Lord's and on mission for Him each of those 100,000 hours of service.  What if she had only known that each time one of her co-workers was discouraged, the Lord had commissioned her to speak a word of Christian love and cheer to that person; each time someone experienced the death of a loved one she had a new opportunity to speak (on the Lord's behalf) a comforting word or even a word about how to receive eternal life; if anytime there was bickering, gossip, or negative talk her ultimate job was to speak a kind word (like her Savior did) and show others how to conduct themselves even if management is imposing unpopular policies.  What if every minute of every one of those 11,000+ days she spent at the mill she had seen herself as serving at the good pleasure of her Savior, who cares not only about what she does for the church on Sunday but what she does as the church Monday through Saturday?!  Ellen could have had a different life!  She could have been weaving a tapestry of a different sort!  The mundane and meaningless could have been purpose-filled and missional, even inspiring and life-changing!!  How do you see yourself at your place of service/workplace? God has called you, too.  Don't waste it. You are an ambassador wherever you work!  Perspective is everything.

Challenge: Approach your entire day on the job with the idea that you are there for the ultimate purpose of fulfilling God's plan for you in that particular context.  Some have been called to other things, but you are there...right there...on your (God-called) job.  As the Lord's ambassador, what are the specific ways you can appropriately advance His Kingdom there in your workplace and help all others around you have a better day!  You are their chaplain. With that said, make this day, a brand new Wednesday, count for the Lord!