Dear Ones,
Hope you are enjoying your weekend as the sun is shining and leaves still beautiful. This morning I did food prep, studied and cleaned the apartment. 
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Our work in life matters and is important not only to us but to God. Sadly today, there are many who do not wish to work and our society is experiencing the ramifications of that. There are signs on restaurants and other establishments asking for patience from the customers, as they don’t have enough help and the wait may be long. In contrast we can probably look back to our own fathers and grandfathers who took pride in hard work and were dependable, doing their jobs well. But today that seems to be lacking and we have forgotten how good it feels to hear the words, “Well done!”
Mark Roberts from Fuller Seminary writes about why we should work and quotes Eph. 4:28 (ESV), “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Yes, we need to earn a living but we should do it in such a way that it adds goodness to the world. We are all called to do good work and in Greek the last part of verse 28 reads,” Working with their own hands that which is good.” 
It doesn’t matter if we are a homemaker or a CEO of a company, if our job is more hidden or seen in neon lights, we are to do it for the glory of God. It should be honest and one that makes a contribution to the needs in the world.
I remember as a child going to a party for the janitor of our church who was being honored for his hard work. They had a “This is Your Life”, bringing together people from his past whose lives he had touched. I was impressed for when we saw him working around the church, we visualized he was doing it for the Lord.
Robert brings out in his writing how the majority of Jesus time as an adult was working as a craftsman in a small village. He probably built tables and chairs and was faithful to honor His Father by doing good work. I had never thought before of how he did physical work for years in obscurity before his 3 years of public ministry. Likewise, our work matters to our Heavenly Father and also affects others, whether it is seen by the world or only a few. But let us offer our work as an act of worship to the Lord.
Challenge for today: Stop for a moment in your work and tell the Lord you are working for His pleasure!
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy