Notes of Faith November 10, 2026
Whatever You Do… Work with Gusto
Get to Work
Let me offer you some encouragement. If you’re a Christian, you should never settle for mediocre. Why? Because the Bible says,
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people.
— Col. 3:23
The Greek term for “heartily” is ek psyches, which literally means “from the soul,” referring to the inner life and whole core of a person. Growing up playing sports (poorly, I might add), I became familiar with the expression “Leave it all on the court.” We get that idea. “Don’t hold back. Give it everything you’ve got.” We talk that way about athletics to our children, yet when it comes to the workplace, we are often tempted to give less than our best. But God calls us in His Word to work with all our might (Eccl. 9:10), to work heartily.
It’s amazing to think that when Paul wrote those words to the Colossian Christians, he was writing not exclusively to executives in corner offices but to slaves and servants. Whatever it is you may be doing, the instruction from the Lord Jesus Christ is to give it your very best.
Work with gusto. With zest, energy, and fervor.
It’s natural to work with enthusiasm if your profession is prominent, but less natural when your work is in the shadows. Kent Hughes tells the story of a conductor of a great symphony orchestra who was once asked what the most difficult instrument is to play. “Second violin,” he answered. “We can get plenty of first violinists. But to get someone who will play second violin with enthusiasm—that is a problem!”1
Are you a busboy, a trash collector, a lawyer, doctor, electrician? Work with enthusiasm! It doesn’t have to be your forever job to honor the Lord with enthusiasm in the here and now.
When work becomes worship, joy naturally ensues.
Work with Enjoyment
From the very beginning, work was intended not to be a curse but to be a fulfilling component of the dignity and bliss of being made in God’s image. Life in Eden was chock-full of joyful labor. Although thorns and difficulty now inundate the labor landscape, Scripture says that we are to
rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! — Phil. 4:4
And by definition, to rejoice “always” means that we rejoice while we are working. The wisest man in the Old Testament says that we are to “find enjoyment in [our] toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God” (Eccl. 2:24–25 ESV). He continues, saying,
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink, and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he labors under the sun. — 5:18
Now, let’s get real for a moment. You may have heard the axiom “Enjoy what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” But can I tell you something? If you are looking for a job where no day will ever feel like work, I’m afraid you are going to need to ask Elon Musk to take you to another planet.
Furthermore (and I know that people who use this axiom may be well intended), when you tell the next generation, “Enjoy what you do and you’ll never work a day in your life,” you are putting work in a negative category, as if work is something to avoid, not something to enjoy. I remember asking Joel Beeke how he would respond to someone who aspired to live by that axiom and he responded without a moment’s hesitation that to not work a day in your life would be a “horrible, horrible way to live.” Why? Because God made you to work. Work is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing—it’s a God thing.
Christians are to be cheerful, joyful, hard workers, knowing that their work pleases God and is a way that they serve and love their neighbor. You may be asking, “But how can I enjoy my work if it’s difficult, mundane, or monotonous?” Solomon’s got a good answer to that one. After noting that we are to enjoy our work in a world that often seems so full of vanity, he says,
The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments. — Eccl. 12:13
The key that unlocks the door to fulfillment and joy is the fear of God.
Now, what does it mean to fear God? It means to be in awe of who He is.
What does that have to do with work? Everything. Without the fear of God, work feels vain. It’s just toiling under the sun. But when you are gripped and grabbed by the character of your creator, you begin to see your work as part of His grander purpose. You realize you’re working not just to pay the bills but to join the living God in His ongoing care and cultivation of His creation and His creatures. Furthermore, when you fear God, your joy in work does not ebb and flow with successes, comfort, and promotions. Why? Because your joy is rooted in Him, not in outcomes or recognition.
The only way you will ever be able to enjoy your work in a biblical sense is if you see your work as worship. And when work becomes worship, joy naturally ensues.
Can I tell you something? You will enjoy your labor the most when you fear God the most, because the awe of God transforms apparently meaningless toil and purposeless plodding into God-honoring worship. The enjoyment of our labor often comes not from the task or labor itself but from the one you’re doing it for.
With this perspective you can fix a broken pipe, scrub a dirty dish, and make another cold call as an act of worship—and enjoy it.
R. Kent Hughes, “Four Qualities of God-Honoring Work,” Crossway, August 28, 2020, www.crossway.org/articles/4-qualities-of-god-honoring-work.
Excerpted from Get to Work by Jonny Ardavanis, copyright Jonny Ardavanis.
1 Cor 10:31
whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Col 3:17
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
Col 3:22-24
…in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
Our present days need to be more focused on the eternal plan of God that we might live in His presence today, obedient, pleasing to Him in all things.
May you see the eternal you as you live through today’s experience in Christ!
Pastor Dale