Can Jesus help us be productive practically speaking?
August 11-17, 2024 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Productivity Week 2
I like to get stuff done.
It’s a great feeling to make a list of tasks and check them off one by one until none of them are left. And at the end of the day, you can look back on all you’ve accomplished and feel really good about yourself.
There’s nothing wrong with that. Frankly, I think God wired us to appreciate accomplishment. And in many instances, our “getting things done” mode is bringing order into chaos, which is what God does. Getting things done often requires creativity and organization and focus, all of which are things God wants us to demonstrate in our lives.
Sure, we can take it to extremes, and that’s what we will talk about next week. But for this week, let’s talk a little about practical productivity. Last week, we focused on how the Holy Spirit can produce spiritual fruit in our lives when we follow Jesus. But isn’t the same thing true in our physical lives?
Of course, we know that Spirit is more powerful (and more important) than flesh. Our bodies will eventually decay, but our spirits and souls will last forever. So we want to make sure our priorities are straight, but at the same time, God gave us our bodies and our physical lives for a reason. And it doesn’t honor Him to disregard them.
So how does God help us with practical productivity? What does physical productivity look like in our lives?
Monday - God wants us to work (James 2:20)
Tuesday - God’s task list (1 John 2:4-6)
Wednesday - Faith makes us an example (Titus 2:7)
Thursday - Our actions silence our critics (1 Peter 2:12, 15)
Friday - Accomplishments glorify God (John 15:8)
Maybe a better phrase for practical productivity is “good deeds” or “good works.” The Bible is loaded with examples of why our actions matter and how God uses our actions to further His Kingdom. Not that our actions save us; only faith can do that. But at the same time, if our actions don’t match what we say we believe, it brands us as an unreliable narrator.
Spiritual productivity is vital, yes, but let’s not neglect the call to practical productivity (a.k.a. good works).
God cares about good works so much that He plans them out for us far in advance of our birth. God has a heavenly task list for all of us. Did you realize that? He has things for you and me to accomplish in our lives, and He’s just waiting for us to get our acts together.
We all have a place in God’s master plan. He’s the Great Architect, the Master Storyteller, the Mighty Mind behind all of Creation, and He has a job for each one of us. Even if we are the tiniest cog in the most complex machine, the work God created us to do is essential to His plan. So let’s not ignore it. Let’s get busy doing what God designed us to do—whatever that may be.
And that leads us to our memory verse for today, Ephesians 2:10
Isn’t that extraordinary to think about? That God thinks of us as His masterpieces—works of art from His own hand. But even more than that, God created us for a purpose.
Each of us has been singularly engineered to do something unique and special in God’s big story. What God has for me to do is different than what He has for you to do. What God planned for all of us to accomplish with our individual lives is masterful, like individual notes in a symphony. He made us to work together.
So let’s not focus on what our neighbors are doing (or not doing). Let’s not compare our assignments with each other. Let’s just do what God has asked us to do, because He made us to do it for Him alone.
And if you aren’t sure what God has made you to do yet? Just wait patiently for Him to reveal it to you. You may not be ready to hear it yet. Your season of life may not allow it at the moment. But when the time is right—when God is ready—He will make it known.
Trust Him.
Hugs!
Amy
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