Mission: Possible

Mission: Possible

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord. . . . The Master you are serving is Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24

I stared in amusement at the photo of my twenty-year-old son carrying groceries up the stairs in a ghetto-like apartment complex. His face was beaming as if he were on a ride at Six Flags rather than carrying out a chore for a missionary.

I thought of the times I had asked him to run to the store to pick up something for me. I do not recall seeing that roller-coaster grin on his face then. I usually got some lackluster response, such as, “Why can’t Laura do it?”

My husband, Mark, reminded me that John was on a mission for God in the Dominican Republic, so every task, no matter how mundane, became significant and meaningful. I figured that getting work out of my family meant I needed to frame it in the context of their being on a mission for God, and since I was painting my daughter’s bedroom, I suggested to Mark that God might be calling him to help me paint. He laughed loudly, but then he picked up a roller and dipped it into the paint.

How often has God asked me to serve him, and I have asked why someone else couldn’t do it or ended up doing the job reluctantly with a less-than-cheerful attitude? Do I do my chores heartily as if I were working at God’s house?

Regardless of whether we are on a mission trip in a faraway land or we’re here at home, the work we do to help others is work we do for Christ. Ultimately he is the one we serve.

—Paula Hemingway

Dear God, help me to serve you with all my heart, regardless of the task or where I am. Amen.