by Jane Anderson, Columnist & Featured Contributor
[su_dropcap style=”flat”]A[/su_dropcap] FEW YEARS AGO, I used to pick my granddaughter up at day care. It was especially fun on Thursdays because the kids would all be excited about the next day – Fun Friday. Funny isn’t it, how even kids at age three know that Fridays are different! Friday is like the gateway to the weekend. What do you love most about the weekend? Catching a few extra minutes (or maybe hours) of sleep? Getting together with family? Spending a day with a friend? Running errands to take care of things that have been weighing you down all week? Downshifting on Sunday to mellow out a little, worship God in the company of friends through uplifting music and be spiritually fed through solid Bible teaching?
I love every day of the week. Some are more fun than others – like the day before a holiday or a day like today! Did you know that every day of the week is good because it’s an opportunity to make a difference? We all have a mission field, that place where just by being in it we can make a difference. I read a lot because I write book reviews! In fact, stand in front of me wearing a t-shirt with words on it, and I’ll read you. I’ve discovered there are many different ways to say the same thing but each writer has a way of expressing the message so their readers identify with and participate in their mission. The mission field of an author or publicist is vast compared to mine. But this one thing is true for me and it’s true for you, we all have a mission. Some of us just take a crooked path while finding it. In fact, we gain a lot of experience from all the ups and downs, twists and turns while wandering in search of our purpose. The key is learning as we go, and using what we’ve learned to help others and help ourselves too, no matter how small our mission field may seem. Each day is a gift waiting to be unwrapped.
My mission field at home and at work is my opportunity to make a difference. It’s yours as well. We don’t know the impact one small act of kindness will make. Philippians 2:1-4 says: If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Each day is unknown territory. Some days melt into each other with lines that are just a blur; others change the entire landscape. I think of life as a kaleidoscope that needs one thing above all to be effective. Light! So today is Sunday and tomorrow it will be Monday. Do I dread Monday? No. Because I am looking toward the Light because that’s where I receive energy, contentment, and an unlimited supply of joy. No matter where I work, no matter what the circumstance, whatever job God gives me, I am responsible to Him to work at it with all my heart and be faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:24 tells me if God calls me to do something he will be alongside me helping me do it.
My devotions for today brought me to this passage from the Message translation: Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift!
I’m unwrapping my gift right now. Are you doing that too? Let’s get out there and use our gifts!
