Monday Again...

For each of of the next 21 days, I will be sharing specific ways believers can set themselves apart for Christ through prayer, fasting, and intentional focus. Today is day 1 of "Setting Ourselves Apart IN..." 

Monday. 

The start of the week, and the start (restart?) of the stress.

Alarms, to-do lists, traffic, demands. 

Mondays are just hard.

theberry.com

Sundays at church, I feel on top of the world. I raise my hands in worship and get together with my people, and I feel like I can do anything. The coming week looks like a rose-colored world of possibilities, and I gaze with optimism at the days to come. I just know that I'm meant to make a difference come Monday morning.

Then Sunday night comes, and I get that Sunday night feeling. You know the one - the nagging sadness that the weekend is over and that the work week with all of its, well, work, is coming. 

And then, Monday morning. Back to the grind, back to the work.

It's so easy to walk into the work world on Monday morning and forget that Sunday ever happened. There's no worship music blaring in the office to keep your spirit focused, and often there's no time to stop and think that Jesus is right there in your midst. American culture demands the American work ethic, and the American work ethic means that even stopping to go to the bathroom is a luxury. Nonstop work means nonstop distraction, and without purposeful pauses, we can work ourselves away from the presence of Christ. 

Today, whether you're beginning or ending your Monday, the challenge is this: set yourself apart for the Lord even in - especially in - your work. Your work is not a terrible requirement; it is a divine appointment. It may not be what you desire, and it may not be what you enjoy. There are seasons for all of us where work is just hard. But you are there because God ordained it, and in it, there is purpose. The Westminster Catechism states, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." Your purpose - in everything, even work - is to bring glory to your Maker and Savior. 

Today's Prayer: "Father, we praise you on this Monday for the gift of work. We repent of our complaints and grumbling, and we ask you to reset our minds to see that our work is an everyday possibility for fellowship and light-sharing. You have given us each a circle to influence, and when we allow the enemy to distract us from the needs and hurts in our circles, we fail to carry Your grace to those who need it. Give us a new sense of purpose, strengthen our weaknesses in our work, and help our hands work to give You all glory."

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24