Pastor and author, Tim Keller, defines work as “rearranging the raw material of God’s creation in such a way that it helps the world in general, and people in particular, thrive and flourish.” God provides us examples of what work looks like. He used the most raw materials around to create something from nothing. God created. God was the original, the ultimate entrepreneur. Genesis ...
Center stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville is a simple wooden circle. For country music artists, the pinnacle of a career well done is standing in that circle when being inducted as a member into the Grand Ole Opry. Thousands have performed there, yet less than 250 have had the notoriety of being recognized as one of the ...
As many desk jobs have been moved to home offices, overworking has become a greater challenge for many people. A recent blog from Teamwork suggests that the “work from home-ers” interviewed have “spent most of their day on work and haven’t properly managed to switch off and unwind.” The close proximity of the office, now being in-home, requires a higher-level ...
For 15 years, Dan, a former investment banker, traveled the globe working on mergers and acquisitions. Dan worked 110 hours a week on a frequent basis striving for “the big money.” As he began seeing the financial fruit of those long hours, Dan realized it wasn’t making him any happier. Dan began looking for a role model in his industry ...
In 1882, the first Labor Day parade was organized by the Central Labor Union. Laborers in that era were forced to work seven days a week for 60 hours or more! Many laborers felt like they were being worked as essential laborers but treated as nonessential. Due to Covid, the government this year declared some workers as essential while others ...
A recent study published by Harvard suggests that the average executive in the US works 62.5 hours per week. Quick math shows that to be 12.5 hours per day in a work week. Why then is there a sense of shame that surrounds the inability to stay on top of it all? Psalm 127: 2 says, “It is in vain ...
In this series on how much work is enough, we’ve discussed some thoughts on determining your work schedule. In a Wall Street Journal article, Dr. Pang discovered that shorter work weeks has proven successful for many businesses. For instance, Microsoft Japan turned heads when they announced that productivity increased by 40% and electricity dropped 23% when they shifted to four-day ...
Although the Bible doesn’t give us specific hours for our workplace, we do have some guidance. In Matthew 20, Jesus tells a parable of a vineyard owner who hired workers for one day. All workers worked until 6:00 pm and some likely started at 6:00 am. If the workers observed the Sabbath and worked just six days, their work week ...
In our pursuit of determining how much work is enough, we need to determine how God perceives and defines work. In Exodus God told us to work for just six days a week. There are at least two different types of work: vocational and household work. This requires that we prioritize our schedule to include how many hours we are ...
For many leaders, work-life tension is a struggle. If only the Bible gave us a definitive number of hours for our work week. Instead, the Bible gives us some boundaries to consider, but leaves us to seek God for specific guidance on our own personal situations. An early boundary Israel received was when God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments ...
Equipping Others to Do Work Differently
