By Jake McCall

A great theologian of the past once said, “We should have ordination services for cabinet makers, teachers and farmers.” In that statement, he was including all genuine and honorable vocational callings in hoping to declare the significance of the work and jobs that God has called us to.

Our word “vocation” comes from the latin word “vox vocis” which is the word for “voice.” Stay with me here. This is why sometimes you will hear people say that your work is your calling. Well, vocation originally and literally meant, calling or voice from God. This used to and should still have a very powerful meaning because whether you were a shoemaker or a large business owner or a minister, it meant that you had been called by God to do that specific work.

No single calling was greater in the eyes of God than another. The reason that was so powerful is because, in its correct understanding, people began to realize that as they used their abilities and their gifts to accomplish work on earth, God was very pleased in heaven. This means that as farmers plowed fields, God smiled at every row that was prepared. As nurses bandaged patients, God was pleased with their service. As wives and mothers cared for their home and their children, our God in heaven cheered them on.

There is some hard work out there, and there are people in our church that go to work every day, and it is tiring and stressful labor. I pray that, even in the mundane and distress of your work, you will see that God has ordained you to give him glory through the work of your hands.

People may think that God is only pleased with certain types of callings or he only smiles down on work that is successful in the world’s eyes. I encourage you to refuse that thought because work is sacred to God and He is pleased when we engage with whatever we have been called to do, from the pulpit to the plow. Cherish your vocation; cherish your work—God sure does.

–Jake McCall is pastor of Grace Fellowship in Clanton.