Charles Wesley wrote this hymn encouraging believers to
honor God in their workaday lives.
Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, I Go
Forth
in thy Name, O Lord, I go,
my
daily labor to pursue;
thee,
only thee, resolved to know
in
all I think or speak or do.
The
task thy wisdom hath assigned,
O
let me cheerfully fulfill;
in
all my works thy presence find,
and
prove thy good and perfect will.
Thee
may I set at my right hand,
whose
eyes mine inmost substance see,
and
labor on at thy command,
and
offer all my works to thee.
For
thee delightfully employ
What
e'er thy bounteous grace hath given
And
run my course with even joy,
and
closely walk with thee to heaven.
This hymn affirms some wonderful things about the
Christian view of work and worship.
God has graciously and wisely assigned us our task. Work,
biblically speaking, is a bountiful gift from God in which we engage in God's
calling, honor God, love our neighbor, and take part in the foreshadowing of
the coming kingdom of God. Yes, really, this is how the Christian faith looks
at work.
The best way to 'take God to work' with us is to recognize
that he is already there. We do not need to bring God kicking and screaming
into our daily lives where we do not really know where he fits anyway. He is
already ahead of us working in the lives of those we live and work with, and he
can even be at work in the labor itself.
When we are aware of God's presence and wisdom within our
labors, there can be delight and joy. It is the perspective shift that makes
this possible - God is here at work in my/our labors which he has graciously
given.
We are having a great time at Living Hope Church on
Tuesday nights in our series, "The Work God Made Us For" digging into
these issues and what Scripture has to say about them. You are invited!
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