‘God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order.’

(Genesis 2:15 MSG – emphasis added)

Hello and welcome to the ‘Living out Faith at Work’ devotional.

Let’s begin this devotional with a prayer:

Father God,

Thank you for the various roles and responsibilities you have given us as your children.

As we journey through this devotional together, I pray that you will encourage us in the places and spaces you have set us in individually.

May we have a sense of grounding in the environments you have placed us in.

May we have an impression of role and responsibility in the task you have placed in our hands.

May we have a feeling of purpose in the reason you have placed us in our specific jobs.

We love you Lord and pray that our work always honours you and brings glory to your name.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

What do you do for work – paid or unpaid?

What environment do you work in? Which role or responsibility do you have? What is the reason or purpose for your work?

As we open up a conversation around living out our faith in the workplace, I believe these questions are key.

Without a sense of ‘why’ in all aspects of our work, we may struggle to connect our roles with our faith and therefore have a sense of purpose in them.

You may have noticed that I have underlined three separate parts of today’s title Bible verse…each part representing the ENVIRONMENT, ROLE and REASON of our work.

As we begin this devotional, I would ask you to simply consider the following:

Why do you think God has placed you in the specific ENVIRONMENT you are in at your workplace?

Why do you think God has assigned you that particular ROLE?

What REASON do you think God had in designing your job in the first place?

Consider – and perhaps even journal – your thoughts and answers to these questions so that you have a foundation as we unpack more about our working lives.

I believe that no matter what your working environment is, no matter what job you are doing or the wider purpose of your role, God has a plan.

God is not haphazard or chaotic, He creates order and purpose in our lives – and this includes your working life too.

So, let’s go on this journey together – I’ll see you tomorrow!