Our text comes from Genesis 2:15,

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

and Ephesians 2:10,

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Well, its another Monday. Rumor has it that many of us do not like Mondays. We do not like the return to the grind of work. The weekend is relief, Monday is back to it. Yet, it was not meant to be this way. Created in the image of God, each of us was created to be productive. This does not refer only to paid labour. We were each created to contribute to the well being of creation and the flourishing of other humans.

Our text from Ephesians is often understood to mean some sort of 'spiritual' work, different from the regular stuff of life. But what if it includes the original creational mandate of contributing to the thriving of creation? Having been made new in Christ, we are able to become the people God created us to be. Can we believe that in our daily activities we are doing the 'good works' which God prepared for us to do? What if we embrace the tasks of today as offerings to God, as "our true and proper worship"?

I invite you to join me in prayer, offering the regular activities of this week to God:

Lord Jesus, we bring before you our labours and their fruit – the work of our hands.

We confess that often, we take pride in our work, doing what we can to draw attention to ourselves and to our own abilities. Our work becomes a means of self-validation, of propping up our self-image and our sense of personal value.

Today, we ask that you re-orient the direction of our praise – lifting our eyes to our heavenly Father, who brings forth every good and perfect gift. Holy Spirit, enable us to do our work as activity that brings glory to our God. Help us to find our value in being his image bearers rather than in what we produce.

Take the works our hands, both big and small, using them for your kingdom purposes. May they honour you, bless other people, and direct the attention of co-workers to you and not to us.

Thank you that you join us by your Spirit in our work. Thank you that because of your grace, our labour is never in vain. Continue to teach us how to be workers in your Kingdom; ever mindful of the rhythms of grace that you kindly invite us into.

We pray these things in the name Jesus who is worthy of our work. Amen.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Colossians 1:15-23. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

Dive In Questions

1. What image of the resurrection did this sermon begin with?
2. What does it mean that Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn, the firstfruits?
3. Does this encourage you in your Christian life?
4. What does it mean that the church is Christ's gathered community?
5. Why must the church also understand herself as a sent community?

Our text is Deuteronomy 6:12:

"Do not forget the LORD."

Have you ever wondered why the book of Deuteronomy is so long? Why did Moses give such a long sermon to Israel as they were about to enter the promised land? Forty years wandering in the desert; they can smell the aromas of new land; they want to cross over; they want to finish the trip; to settle down; to build houses; to have homes. But Moses holds up a stop sign saying "Now, listen to me." The kids know its lecture time.

Why? Moses sees that the land of Canaan is an enormous temptation. The affluence of the land will create a crisis in covenant faith. The new land will produce so well that Israel will think they can manage on their own. They will be tempted into thinking, "We don't really need the Lord God". Prosperity will breed amnesia. He warns against this, "be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (6:12) and "make sure you don't become so full of yourself and your things that you forget" YOUR God (8:14 MSG).

Moses wanted the Israelites to remember where they came from, the system of unbearable pressure in which they had to meet impossible brick production schedules. If they forget the God who freed them from Egypt, they are likely to create their own pressure system. Without remembering this history, they will become materialistic, believing that the goal of life is to acquire and acquire and acquire. A system of acquisition pits neighbour against neighbour.

In Deuteronomy, Israel is warned to "Watch out!" or the land in its productivity will transform them into producers and consumers and will destroy the fabric of the covenantal neighborhood. The market of acquisition regards the land as property and possession to be bought and sold and traded and used.

Israel is not to view the land this way. For her, the land is a birthright and an inheritance, one's own property is part of the larger inheritance of the whole people of God. If the land is possession, then we live with the pressure to acquire more. If the land is inheritance, then we live to enhance the neighborhood and the extended family so that all members may enjoy the good produce of the land.

The economy was not to become a rat race in which people were exhausted from coercive goals; it was, rather, a covenantal enterprise for the sake of the whole community. In Deuteronomy, Moses exhorts Israel to reject the acquisitive culture of its neighbors for the sake of this covenantal alternative.

How were they to remember? Simple. Keep Sabbath, which is remembering who they were and where they came from. We live in a very different time and place. Yet, the temptation is the same: to join the rat race. The way out of the rat race is the same: Sabbath, remembering that we belong to God through the redemptive suffering of Jesus Christ. What will you do this weekend?

As you journey on, here Jesus' invitation:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28-29).