What looks like bad work to you? It can be a very personal thing – I was surprised when I told people about leading Redeem the Commute, and they said, “I’m glad someone is doing it, but especially glad it’s not me.”

I watched a TV show lately about a tow truck driver – it showed him going about his work in the middle of the night, doing a job many wouldn’t want. But he said he’d tried multiple jobs, hated them all – and then found the towing business and it just fit. He’d found his passion for work, even though other people would hate it working those late nights, alone, at risk and dealing with mechanical work.

There are definitely bad jobs out there – some are really awful, which became apparent with media coverage, for example, of the textile industry in Bangladesh.

Some jobs aren’t terrible themselves, they are just a bad fit.

And there are some good jobs that we see in the wrong light – something about us means they are less than they should be. We might think they’ll be much more than they are, or we might think too highly of ourselves to do certain kinds of work, even though they are good.

Question: What’s the worst job you ever had? What made it so bad? Was it bad for everyone, or just you?

Acknowledgements: Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavour and Work & Rest

Ryan Sim - April 18, 2013

Thursday - Act On It - Perfection

Sermon on the Mount

Will we ever make ourselves sinless and perfect? Not in this life. Our hunger and thirst for righteousness is meant to be ongoing But this really is God's plan for us. He wants to make us perfect by his Holy Spirit. We were made for perfection, but gave it up. Like a rebellious child who needs to learn from their own mistakes. But we were in such trouble, we can’t help ourselves out. God intends for us to enjoy his care, kingdom again. Made it possible by coming to earth as Jesus, the perfect man and perfect God, and destroying the power of sin and death to separate us from him. He's working on perfecting us, to be ready for his return. He will make us perfect. Open ourselves to him...ask him to...allow him to. To do the impossible. To love our enemies. To do everything else in the Sermon on the Mount so far! The underlying truth behind everything he's said is that he intends for us to be perfect. Become perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect. Become acceptable to him, to live in his kingdom of heaven. Back to Day 1: How do you react when you fall short of that standard? One way is to look for help. Jesus says he is the help we need: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me”. If you’re finding perfection, fixing yourself, trying to make yourself holy far too challenging, impossible….Jesus says, "Try me!, I’m the way!" He is the way, and the destination. He will help shape your life move in this direction as well…as long as you are willing to follow him. Challenge: Go through the last few weeks worth of examples. Anger, Lust, Lying, Retaliation, Loving Enemies. Rate out of 5. Which lowest? Recognize imperfect, and ask God to begin perfecting that area of your life.

Related Topics: Disappointment, God, Perfection | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

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