Work – Page 2 – The Nexus

Morning Musing: Genesis 2:15

April 12, 2019April 12, 2019Leave a comment

“The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

So, God has made this final new creature—a man—much more intimately than all the rest. He has made him in His image in a way nothing else in all of creation was so designed (and though the woman was created differently and separately, she was equally made in His image). When you have created something so carefully as this, the first thing you do with it conveys an awful lot about what you made it for. That’s what we see here.

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The Problem with Work

April 1, 2019March 28, 2019Leave a comment

After a couple of weeks off, this week brings us to part four of our series, Finding Meaning. One of the places we turn to for meaning in our lives is often our work. And that makes a lot of sense at first blush. After all, by the nature of the beast, we invest a lot of our lives there. We might as well try to get as much out of it as we can. But as with pleasure and wisdom, seeking meaning in our work is a trap and when it springs, it will leave us empty and searching. Keep reading to find out how we can get the most out of the work we do.

The Problem with Work

Have you ever done something that you knew, even while doing it, was a waste of your time? I worked at OfficeMax in the print department while I was in seminary. I really enjoyed the job and had a great boss. My favorite part was working in production. That kind of detailed and precise work was right up my alley and a nice break from school work. We produced thousands of different documents while I was there from large format posters to bound workbooks to single copies. If you wanted a document of any kind created, we could probably do it for you.

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Keeping the Beat

September 3, 2018September 3, 2018Leave a comment

This Labor Day weekend, we took some time to talk about taking a day off…just like many of you are doing today. Life was meant to run at a certain pace, to play to a certain beat. If we don’t get the rhythm of life right, thing are much more difficult than they might otherwise be. Keep reading to learn a powerful tool that will help us keep on beat with the rhythm of life. Happy Labor Day.

Keeping the Beat

When playing the drum set, one of the first things you learn is how to play “time.” Indeed, much drum set music as a part in an ensemble will have several measures that are blank with the exception of a line with two little dots right in the middle which indicates you’re supposed to play “time.” Now, if you don’t know music lingo, you may be wondering why the drummer is supposed to beat on a clock. Let me explain. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Timothy 5:4

January 3, 2018January 2, 2018Leave a comment

“But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

What follows here is Paul offering Timothy some advice on how to establish and create guidelines for a program of caring for widows in his church. There is much to comment on here, but let’s settle now for a few observations on some themes. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Ecclesiastes 6:3

August 18, 2017August 16, 2017Leave a comment

“If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

While Solomon seems to promote a kind of “eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” hedonistic fatalism here, I think there’s something more afoot. As he has surveyed the world around him, he has noticed that there are many who pursue much, but whether they obtain it or not, when the pursuit becomes their god they can no longer enjoy the fruits of their labors whether larger or small.

Better in this life is to seek to find all the enjoyment we can in the things we have, working hard to see them increase, but not to the point that work becomes the end instead of the means. The best life will always be found in working hard, delighting fully in what we have (and among the chief ways to do that is to use it for the benefit of others), all with faithfulness to the Lord as our guide.