What looks like bad work to you? It can be a very personal thing – I was surprised when I told people about leading Redeem the Commute, and they said, “I’m glad someone is doing it, but especially glad it’s not me.”
I watched a TV show lately about a tow truck driver – it showed him going about his work in the middle of the night, doing a job many wouldn’t want. But he said he’d tried multiple jobs, hated them all – and then found the towing business and it just fit. He’d found his passion for work, even though other people would hate it working those late nights, alone, at risk and dealing with mechanical work.
There are definitely bad jobs out there – some are really awful, which became apparent with media coverage, for example, of the textile industry in Bangladesh.
Some jobs aren’t terrible themselves, they are just a bad fit.
And there are some good jobs that we see in the wrong light – something about us means they are less than they should be. We might think they’ll be much more than they are, or we might think too highly of ourselves to do certain kinds of work, even though they are good.
Question: What’s the worst job you ever had? What made it so bad? Was it bad for everyone, or just you?
Acknowledgements: Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavour and Work & Rest
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Happy New Year!
We’ve been looking at the story of the Magi or wise men visiting Jesus, now we’ll contast them with the priests and scribes who were present at their meeting with Herod (see yesterday’s Bible reading).
The scribes and priests are also knowledgeable, learned like the Magi. They are called to advise Herod on this apparent threat to his rule – is a new king of the Jews, or the Messiah, really going to be born?
These experts on the scriptures end up helping him with his plan to have the wise men quietly scout things out for Herod, so he can swoop in and violently remove the threat.
But first, Herod needed to know where in Judea this “king” would be born. This was a question the priests/scribes could answer immediately – they knew the scriptures, the history and answer that it’s Bethlehem, the city of David.
The priests and scribes had all the information to know the messiah was coming, and coming imminently. But they did nothing but advise his enemy.
Perhaps in their view, the arrival of the Messiah represents a threat to their power and authority in their culture, and to peace with the Romans. So they go home...Herod will neutralize threat. They advise and move on.
Question: What intellectual risks are involved in following Jesus? How do you calculate those?
Reminder: We are reading the Bible in sync as one community - so check out today's reading at https://www.redeemthecommute.com/readingplan
Reminder: The best way to grow spiritually this year is to join our Christianity 101 in the Cafe Course in Pickering starting January 22nd. Register for you and a friend today at https://www.redeemthecommute.com/events/!
In preparation for Christmas, our Daily Challenges are going to explore the lifechanging significance of Jesus' birth so long ago. It's more than a sentimental story, or a time for generosity, Christmas celebrates The Night that Changed Everything. We'll explore the original Christmas story from the Bible, and its impact on five kinds of people.
