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Chris Fabry Live - Seeing Your Daily Grind as God's Good Gift · The Word On Demand

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  S1: How do you view your work? Is it a necessary
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  S1: thing you do to pay the bills? Is it something
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  S1: you do to kind of get out of the way
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  S1: and move on with your life, so you can do
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  S1: what you really want to do? The thing that gives
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  S1: you purpose and meaning in your life, that's what you
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  S1: want to do. And your work is just, yeah, it's
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  S1: a necessary evil. If you feel like work is something
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  S1: you have to do. I want you to hear Pastor
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  S1: Johnny today. He believes we need a course correction in
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  S1: the culture and in the church too, about the value
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  S1: of work, and that it is not something we have
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  S1: to do. It's a privilege. It's something we get to
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  S1: do that can honor God no matter what that work is.
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  S1: Pastor Johnny Artavanis is straight ahead on the program from
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  S1: the Heart to the Heart for the heart online at
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  S1: Chris Fabry live.org. Thanking our team. Ryan McConaughey doing all
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  S1: things technical. Chris is our producer. Lisa is helping out tall.
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  S1: Josh will be answering your calls today. I really want
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  S1: to hear from you about this work topic. I think
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  S1: this is going to be a good conversation. Before we
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  S1: get to that, there are two days left, two days
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  S1: left in October, and our offer of a great thank
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  S1: you for anyone who supports this program. It's from Nancy
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  S1: DeMoss Wolgemuth it's about Christmas. It's about celebrating the true
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  S1: meaning of the holiday, which is the incarnation. The fact
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  S1: that God did for us what we could not do
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  S1: for ourselves. Nancy wants us to marvel at the manger,
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  S1: to ponder the Prince of Peace, to savor the truth.
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  S1: Truth that this is the Messiah, the Savior of the world,
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  S1: the Lamb of God, who came to rob your sin
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  S1: and give you his righteousness. If that doesn't get you
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  S1: fired up, I don't know what will. This is a
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  S1: little book 31 day advent devotional. It's titled Consider Jesus.
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  S1: And there are two. Have I said it already? There
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  S1: are two days left. I have a copy for you.
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  S1: I've got one all ready to send to you, but
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  S1: you got to call and support us with a gift
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  S1: of any size. Eight, six, six, 95. Faber is the number.
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  S1: Or you can click through at Chris Fabry live.org. Your
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  S1: gift keeps the gospel conversations coming. The challenges, like the
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  S1: one we're going to consider today about work and the
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  S1: encouragement from the radio backyard fence. So if you value
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  S1: that and you'd like to get this book, would love
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  S1: to send it to you. (866) 953-2279. Or go to Chris
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  S1: Fabry live.org. See, even in the in the phone number,
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  S1: there are two twos. There's two days left and there
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  S1: are two twos and two, two, seven, nine. Yes, it
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  S1: all goes together. Thank you for your support of the
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  S1: back fence. He is the lead pastor of Stonebridge Bible
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  S1: Church in Franklin, Tennessee. Founder and president of Dial in Ministries,
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  S1: a ministry that provides biblical resourcing for the next generation
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  S1: dynamic speaker and pastor. We've talked with him here about
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  S1: his book Consider the Lilies Finding Perfect Peace in the
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  S1: Character of God. He's married to Katie. They have four children.
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  S1: His name is Johnny Ardavanis. You don't have to spell
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  S1: that in order to listen to the program. His new
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  S1: book is This is Really Good. Get to work seeing
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  S1: your daily grind as God's good gift. Pastor Johnny, welcome
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  S1: back to the program. How you doing today?
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  S2: Good. Thanks, Chris, for having me on. So grateful to
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  S2: be here.
• 3:32
  S1: You dedicated this to your dad. Tell me about your dad,
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  S1: how he influenced you, and what the shoe size of
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  S1: Shaquille O'Neal has to do with it.
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  S2: Well, that's a good way to put it. When I
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  S2: was growing up, I had I think my dad had
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  S2: always ingrained in us, you know, that we were to
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  S2: work hard. And, you know, the story that I tell
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  S2: in the book that pertains to Shaquille O'Neal is that
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  S2: on my 16th birthday, My dad woke me up and
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  S2: told me to, you know, get dressed, get your suit on.
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  S2: And I was like, where is he going to take me?
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  S2: He did take me on my 10th birthday to meet
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  S2: Shaquille O'Neal, and he took me into the locker room.
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  S2: I met all these famous athletes. That was my 10th birthday.
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  S2: So for my 16th birthday, when my dad woke me
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  S2: up at six in the morning and said, get your
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  S2: suit on. Happy birthday. I was man, I was going, wait,
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  S2: where's he gonna take me? But he ended up taking
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  S2: me about ten miles away from my house, dropping me
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  S2: off on the side of the road, rolling the window
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  S2: down as he dropped me off, handed me a Gatorade
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  S2: and a tiger's milk bar and said, men work. Go
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  S2: find a job. Don't come home till you have one.
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  S2: And that was the chipper introduction to my 16th birthday.
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  S2: And my dad's the best. He's not like a. He's
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  S2: not a hard man at all, but he was trying
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  S2: to ingrain in me the biblical priority of work. And
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  S2: I remember at 16 asking the question, why do I
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  S2: got to work? You know, why do I have to
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  S2: do this? And it wasn't until maybe later on that
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  S2: I realized biblically, work is not a got to. It's
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  S2: a get to. We get to work. And as a
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  S2: way that we mirror and mimic the God that made
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  S2: us in his image. And that's the title of the book,
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  S2: get to work and seeing your daily grind is a
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  S2: gift from God. And that's one of the things that
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  S2: my dad wanted to ingrain in all of his children.
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  S2: I'm the third of seven, but just a biblical work
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  S2: ethic and what it means to be made in the
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  S2: image of God.
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  S1: And he lived that out in front of you, too.
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  S1: I mean, you saw him value work in his own life, right?
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  S2: Correct. Yeah. He's just a hard worker. And I think
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  S2: one of the things he gave me different lessons growing up, like,
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  S2: never let the grass grow under your feet. What he
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  S2: meant by that is just to take initiative, be assertive,
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  S2: be productive. You know, I remember my dad reading to
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  S2: us the chapters in Proverbs, you know, going to the ant,
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  S2: you know, go to the ant, he sluggard. And he
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  S2: wasn't being mean to me. He was just saying, hey,
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  S2: it's so important that the biblical the biblical prescription for
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  S2: both a young man and a young woman or people
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  S2: of all ages, is to model who God is and
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  S2: his activity. We do worship a God who rested as well.
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  S2: And so it's important. You know, I don't feel like
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  S2: my dad idolized work at all. But, you know, it's
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  S2: Kent Hughes that says 80 to 100,000 hours of your
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  S2: life are spent working. And so to not think biblically
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  S2: about those hours inevitably means that we're going to suffer
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  S2: some sort of spiritual injury because it's impossible to live
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  S2: our life for the glory of God if we don't
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  S2: know how to glorify God in our work. And when
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  S2: I say that the Bible really demolishes all notions of
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  S2: a secular sacred divide. So it could be what if.
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  S2: That's why Paul says, whatever you're doing in Colossians 323,
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  S2: you're to do it for the glory of God. And
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  S2: that means whether you're a busboy, a mother, a nurse,
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  S2: an electrician, a CPA, a lawyer, you're to do it
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  S2: for the glory of God. And to do that, you
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  S2: have to understand what the Scripture says about the subject
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  S2: that we will spend most of our lives actually doing.
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  S1: Yeah. Did you actually get a job that day when
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  S1: you were 16?
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  S2: That's a good question. I, I put in about 120
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  S2: applications and I got rejected by every single one of them.
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  S2: But the following day, I got a job offer from
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  S2: the restaurant that my older brother and older sister were
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  S2: already working at, and I didn't even apply for that one.
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  S2: But I think they hired me just based on the
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  S2: work ethic of my older siblings. And, um, I started
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  S2: working there shortly after, but it was a, it was a,
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  S2: you know, I was thankful for the lesson just in
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  S2: retrospect that my dad was ingrained in me and, um, so,
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  S2: so glad he taught me how to work when, when
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  S2: I was young. Because the older you get, the harder
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  S2: it is to, you know, instill and implement those godly,
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  S2: you know, or biblical patterns into your life.
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  S1: I think you have put in this book, you put
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  S1: your finger on the nerve. And even with what you've
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  S1: just said on what I've had a problem with all
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  S1: my life when I've heard it, and I agree with
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  S1: it on one level and another level, I, push back
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  S1: on it and that is the saying. Only one life
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  S1: will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.
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  S1: And I think if you if you look at it
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  S1: with the get to work. You know I get to work.
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  S1: I don't have to work. I get to work. My
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  S1: work matters. My work is something that I can do
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  S1: for Christ. But the way that I have interpreted that
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  S1: is to more be the sacred secular dichotomy, which is, well,
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  S1: if you're not out there winning souls, if you're not,
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  S1: if you're working and you're not evangelizing somebody, then it's
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  S1: not worth anything. And that's what I, I push back
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  S1: against in my heart. What do you think?
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  S2: Yeah. You know, I like the quote, you know, by
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  S2: CT Studd. And it's probably been made well known by C.S. Lewis,
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  S2: who repeated that line that you just mentioned. Only one
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  S2: life will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ
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  S2: will last. And I grew up, Chris. Yeah. Interpreting that
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  S2: as if I didn't go into vocational ministry, that my
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  S2: life was worthless. And the only way that, you know,
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  S2: I would honor the Lord in my work is if
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  S2: I took whatever money was left over after I paid
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  S2: the bills and gave that away. And one of the
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  S2: arguments that I make in the in the book is
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  S2: just that God is honored by the work itself. What
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  S2: I mean by that is when God puts Adam in
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  S2: the garden in Genesis two, and he puts him there
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  S2: to work it. It says in Genesis 215 that word
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  S2: for work is the Hebrew word avod. It means to work.
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  S2: It means to serve. It means to cultivate, but it
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  S2: also means to worship. And so one of the things
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  S2: that God ingrains in his people and helps us to
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  S2: understand from page two of the scripture, is that work
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  S2: and worship are not separate, you know, separate categories. They
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  S2: are often conjoined twins. When Adam was tilling the ground
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  S2: and cultivating the ground, he was worshiping not because he
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  S2: was the lead member of a praise band, but because
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  S2: he was doing what God does. And I think even
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  S2: going back to that idea of working, when God says,
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  S2: let us make man in our own image in Genesis 126.
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  S2: You know, I think that's a familiar idea. We're made
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  S2: in the image of God, the imago day. But what
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  S2: does that even mean? And at that point, when God says,
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  S2: let us make man in his own in our own image,
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  S2: what is that? What do we know about God? Well,
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  S2: at that point, what we know about God is that
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  S2: he's a worker. He's a creator. He's an artist. Even
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  S2: that idea in Genesis 116, when it says that in
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  S2: the NKJV translation, it says that God separated the firmament.
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  S2: And that's the same word used in job to describe
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  S2: a blacksmith in his shop. And so the opening scene
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  S2: of Scripture describes and presents a God who is an artist,
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  S2: a worker, a blacksmith, smelting and stamping the earth into place.
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  S2: He's a zoologist. He's an architect. He's a builder. And
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  S2: then he says, let us make man in our own image.
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  S2: What does that mean? God's invisible. We can't see God.
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  S2: He's got a spirit. Well, it means we do what
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  S2: God does. And that's why it says, let us make
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  S2: man in our own image. And then here's the first
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  S2: job description for humanity. Let them rule to do what
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  S2: God does. And so it's so important that our understanding
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  S2: of work is free fall, right? People say it's just
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  S2: a part of the curse, but it's not a part
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  S2: of the curse. It's a pre-fall institution. And going back
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  S2: to your question about the C.T. Studd quote, it's a
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  S2: way that we worship God not just when we're sharing Christ,
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  S2: but in the work itself is worship to God. And
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  S2: I think the last thing and I don't want to
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  S2: filibuster here, Chris, even when we talk about, you know,
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  S2: Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love the
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  S2: Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
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  S2: And the second is like it, the second greatest commandment
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  S2: is to love your neighbor as yourself. What does that
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  S2: even mean? To love your neighbor? Like, how does a
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  S2: dentist love their neighbor? Well, the answer from Scripture and
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  S2: Dorothy Sayers and other great writers have talked about this
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  S2: is it means that you do an excellent job. So,
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  S2: you know, one one pastor said, how does a pilot
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  S2: love their neighbor? By landing the plane. How does a
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  S2: builder love their neighbor? By building great houses. And this
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  S2: is an act of worship, and part of that is,
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  S2: is oriented in your perspective of work, meaning it's only
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  S2: worship if you do it with God's glory and the
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  S2: other person, you know your neighbor's well-being in mind. But
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  S2: that idea of the secular sacred divide is nowhere found
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  S2: in Scripture. And it was William Tyndale who said, there
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  S2: is a difference between preaching a sermon and washing the dishes,
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  S2: but to God, there's no difference at all in regards
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  S2: to the heart behind it and its capacity to bring
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  S2: him glory.
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  S1: Bingo. Oh, this is going to set somebody free today.
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  S1: Just the conversation we're having at the back fence, and
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  S1: the book will do the same. Get to work. You
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  S1: don't have to work. You get to work. Seeing your
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  S1: daily grind is God's good gift. Johnny Artavanis is with
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  S1: us today. Pastor, author, here's our number (877) 548-3675 more straight
• 12:37
  S1: ahead on Moody Radio. As I was going through this
• 12:48
  S1: book by Gianni Ardavanis today, I had all these questions
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  S1: and all these thoughts about my own life, about identity.
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  S1: You know, the idol that we can make out of work.
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  S1: My identity is wrapped up in what I do or not.
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  S1: The book, as I said, is going to set some
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  S1: people free. Get to work seeing your daily grind as
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  S1: God's good gift. And I hear it from people who
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  S1: will call and say, you know, I really want to
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  S1: be a pastor. I really want to be a full
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  S1: time musician, or I want to be an author, but
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  S1: I'm stuck over here. I think of William Faulkner, who
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  S1: worked at the post office down there in Mississippi for
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  S1: a long time, and he wrote on the side. But
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  S1: the thing that struck me today, Johnny, is today, Thursday
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  S1: is our trash day at where I live. And so
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  S1: I went down a little before noon and I start
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  S1: taking the rest. You know the trash that had come
• 13:46
  S1: that we had made from last night until today. And
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  S1: I just said, it's just such a good feeling to
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  S1: start over again. And so I got these two trash bags.
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  S1: I took them out to the road and I put
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  S1: them in the bins. And then I heard the truck coming.
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  S1: And I thought about your book and I thought, I
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  S1: wonder if the men or women who are driving that truck.
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  S1: And now it used to be, you know, there are
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  S1: a couple of guys at least on each truck now
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  S1: there's only one, you know, the driver who brings the
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  S1: arm down. But I wonder if the driver of that
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  S1: trash truck sees his or her work as just a
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  S1: grind is just a, just a way to, you know,
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  S1: to pay the bills and then to get on, get
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  S1: off and get cleaned up, you know, from all the
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  S1: trash they've picked up or, or do they see it
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  S1: as a way that there's this guy down there, that's
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  S1: this guy. And when he puts his trash out when
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  S1: he sees that go. There's such a good feeling. There's
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  S1: a completion, there's a starting over that I wouldn't get
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  S1: that if it hadn't been for those people driving those trucks.
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  S2: No. It's true. I, uh, you know, I wonder sometimes
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  S2: what the world thinks about work as well. And obviously
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  S2: as you engage with people in conversation, you get different
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  S2: ideas from different people. You know, going back thousands of years,
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  S2: there's always been some sort of an opinion, even religiously,
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  S2: about what or why we work. You know, it was
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  S2: the Babylonian god Marduk that said that work was a
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  S2: punishment from the gods. You know, he says that he
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  S2: will make man like a savage. And that work was
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  S2: a punishment. It was a divine punishment. And so I
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  S2: think a lot of people view it as a necessary evil.
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  S2: You know, gotta go to work, gotta pay the bills.
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  S2: And then there are other people that maybe swing to
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  S2: the other side of the spectrum and make it their identity.
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  S2: You know, that's all that we are. That's all that we,
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  S2: you know, is, is what I accomplish, and that's nothing new.
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  S2: You know, Solomon says that nothing new is under the sun.
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  S2: And eight chapters after the fall in Genesis three, by
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  S2: the time we arrive at Genesis 11, you see people
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  S2: making work their very identity in Genesis 11, when they're
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  S2: building the Tower of Babel, they say, let us build
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  S2: a city with a tower that reaches the heavens. And
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  S2: then here's the reason they want to do so, so
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  S2: that we might make a name for ourselves. Uh, doing
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  S2: something grand is not sinful. God. God had told mankind
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  S2: to subdue the earth, but there was this motive that
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  S2: we would make a name for ourself. They don't want
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  S2: to glorify God. They want to glorify the man in
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  S2: the mirror. And so whether or not, you know, you're
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  S2: on one ditch or another as it pertains to biblical work,
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  S2: the Bible is so helpful because there's so much instruction
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  S2: that is written to people after the fall. Like meaning
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  S2: like almost every verse we have in Scripture is after,
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  S2: you know, the tragic events that happened on page three.
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  S2: And so it really does help us to think through
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  S2: it because, you know, going back to my dad, Chris,
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  S2: my dad used to tell me everything is attitude. Meaning
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  S2: that you live out of the overflow of your, you know,
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  S2: your base attitude, how you think about something, what you
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  S2: think about work. And so as I dive into the
• 16:49
  S2: book and you can jump in here, we just begin
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  S2: to explore the different themes of how Paul and the
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  S2: scripture itself gives us instruction for how to work, rest,
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  S2: and steward our time as fallen creatures in a fallen world.
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  S1: Yes. But go back to the one of your main
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  S1: audiences that you've spoken to over the last few years.
• 17:08
  S1: Is the audience a little younger than me, though? I'm.
• 17:11
  S1: I'm right there with you. But you want to talk
• 17:14
  S1: to this the next generation that's coming up because a
• 17:18
  S1: lot of those younger people have been knocking on your
• 17:22
  S1: door talking about the the Sabbath, the rest don't hurry
• 17:27
  S1: and that kind of thing. But they don't ask this
• 17:29
  S1: question about work. Why is that?
• 17:33
  S2: You know, I think there's probably a little bit of
• 17:35
  S2: a swing from one pendulum to another. I heard a
• 17:39
  S2: quote one time. I forget who it's by, but it's
• 17:42
  S2: basically it says that balance is that temporary moment when
• 17:46
  S2: someone swings from one pendulum to another. And I think
• 17:50
  S2: in maybe response to maybe a culture in previous generations
• 17:55
  S2: of workaholism or overworking, the next generation is often I
• 17:59
  S2: don't want to make blanket statements, often kind of aligned
• 18:02
  S2: with this. I would almost call it obsession with rest
• 18:05
  S2: and Sabbath and, and, and, and as we go into
• 18:09
  S2: the book, I talk about rest. We do. We are
• 18:11
  S2: made in the image of a God who both worked
• 18:13
  S2: and rested. But in recent years, I've been approached dozens,
• 18:18
  S2: if not hundreds of times, and been asked if I've
• 18:20
  S2: read the most recent book on rest, but I've never
• 18:23
  S2: been asked if I've read the most recent book on
• 18:25
  S2: the God glorifying human dignifying theme of work. And I
• 18:29
  S2: think that's concerning. You know, different studies have shown that millennials,
• 18:32
  S2: which would be my generation, are the first generation in
• 18:35
  S2: American history that don't cite work ethic as a principal
• 18:39
  S2: claim of our distinctiveness. In the aftermath of Covid, there
• 18:42
  S2: are now a higher percentage of young men who are
• 18:46
  S2: not working that are able bodied post-college than ever before.
• 18:51
  S2: And so I think those things, it kind of is
• 18:53
  S2: reflective of maybe just a posture towards work. And it
• 18:56
  S2: is possible that many people find themselves in opposite ditches
• 18:59
  S2: along the highway of a biblical work ethic, meaning some
• 19:02
  S2: people work really hard and spend their life chasing, meeting
• 19:05
  S2: after meeting and sale after sale and make work their idol.
• 19:08
  S2: And then other people often are described by a level
• 19:11
  S2: of passivity. And we work really hard until we read
• 19:15
  S2: a book about rest, and we rest really hard until
• 19:17
  S2: we read a book about work. And that's why I'm
• 19:19
  S2: so thankful for the line by Tozer. A.W. Tozer once said,
• 19:22
  S2: it takes nothing less than a whole Bible to make
• 19:25
  S2: a whole Christian, meaning that when you extract and extrapolate
• 19:28
  S2: one truth at the Bible at the expense of another,
• 19:31
  S2: you end up with a lopsided view of God. And
• 19:34
  S2: I think even that idea of God being a relaxed
• 19:37
  S2: God has been really put to the forefront in recent years.
• 19:41
  S2: And I think I understand what people mean when they
• 19:44
  S2: kind of present that picture of God. He's he's not
• 19:48
  S2: anxious or agitated. He trusted the father as he lived
• 19:52
  S2: in his life. And so there is this holy serenity
• 19:55
  S2: that described the life of Jesus. But one of the
• 19:57
  S2: things that I talk about in reaction to that a
• 20:00
  S2: little bit is one of my favorite words throughout the
• 20:02
  S2: gospel of Mark is use case. It's used 41 times
• 20:06
  S2: in the gospel of Mark, 11 times in the first
• 20:08
  S2: chapter to describe the life and ministry of Jesus. And
• 20:10
  S2: that word you face means immediately, straight at once. And
• 20:14
  S2: it means that Jesus was on a divine mission. He said,
• 20:16
  S2: I must do the works of him who sent me
• 20:18
  S2: while it is day. And so, so much of our
• 20:21
  S2: understanding about work needs to be rooted in the character
• 20:24
  S2: of God. And so that's why I go back not
• 20:26
  S2: only to Genesis, but in the Gospels, you see, yes,
• 20:29
  S2: a Jesus who withdrew from the region to pray. Yes,
• 20:32
  S2: a Jesus who prioritize time with the father. But he
• 20:35
  S2: says over and over again, my hour has not come. Why?
• 20:37
  S2: Because his whole life was lived on mission. He knew
• 20:40
  S2: he had one life to live for the glory of God.
• 20:43
  S2: And so there was what I would call like a
• 20:46
  S2: divine urgency. Not anxious, not the tyranny of the urgent.
• 20:50
  S2: But I must do the works of him who sent
• 20:52
  S2: me while it is day. And so we need to
• 20:54
  S2: harmonize those truths together, right? God's Edenic pace, his rest
• 20:59
  S2: and rhythm in the garden, the composure with which Jesus lived,
• 21:03
  S2: but also the urgency that, hey, it says that we've
• 21:06
  S2: been given one life. Um, going back to the CT
• 21:09
  S2: Studd quote, that includes our work. So it doesn't mean
• 21:12
  S2: we have to be a missionary, but it does mean, hey,
• 21:15
  S2: we need to God has given us assignment. Ephesians 210.
• 21:18
  S2: We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
• 21:22
  S2: which God prepared beforehand that we would walk in them.
• 21:24
  S2: Meaning that whoever is listening to this right now has
• 21:28
  S2: been made by God and saved by God for God
• 21:33
  S2: for a purpose. And that purpose includes what we do
• 21:36
  S2: with our vocation, our vocation. And that could be as
• 21:39
  S2: a mother. It could be right now, as a student,
• 21:41
  S2: it could be as a finance, you know, a financial advisor.
• 21:46
  S2: It doesn't need to be your forever job to honor
• 21:49
  S2: the Lord with the way that you work and the
• 21:50
  S2: here and now. And so there's also no putting this
• 21:53
  S2: off on the back burner, meaning like, I don't even
• 21:55
  S2: know if I want to be in this job forever
• 21:57
  S2: or I won't be a mom of little kids forever.
• 21:59
  S2: It's really important that we ingrain these biblical principles into
• 22:03
  S2: our heart and ask the Holy Spirit to help us
• 22:04
  S2: honor the Lord in our work. Um, you know, as
• 22:07
  S2: we as we go through this life.
• 22:10
  S1: I don't want to be too hard on the next generation,
• 22:13
  S1: your generation or the one coming up behind you. But
• 22:16
  S1: what I see, I know what troubles me. And maybe
• 22:19
  S1: it just troubles me about myself because I, I feel
• 22:22
  S1: the same way that there is this search for fame.
• 22:26
  S1: There is a search for influence. There's a search for
• 22:30
  S1: instant riches. I want to go viral. And if I
• 22:33
  S1: get that on YouTube, then I'm going to monetize that
• 22:36
  S1: and I can. And then I don't have to work anymore.
• 22:39
  S1: You know, then I could then I can have enough
• 22:41
  S1: money to do what I really want to do, which is,
• 22:43
  S1: you know, whatever you want to do. I think there
• 22:46
  S1: is that sense of, I want to make it so
• 22:50
  S1: that then I can coast or relax and not feel
• 22:54
  S1: like I'm striving all the time. What do you think?
• 22:58
  S2: I think there's definitely that, you know, as far as
• 23:02
  S2: the pursuit of maybe comfortability, I would understand obviously being
• 23:06
  S2: strategic and figuring out ways to like maximize your time.
• 23:09
  S2: And so I don't think that can be inherently wrong.
• 23:12
  S2: But Proverbs does warn a lot against the person that
• 23:15
  S2: craves ease. You know, people say that the lazy person
• 23:18
  S2: lacks drive. But as you look to God's Word, particularly
• 23:21
  S2: in the book of Proverbs, the lazy person doesn't lack drive.
• 23:24
  S2: They have an intense drive for comfortability and ease, but
• 23:28
  S2: everything good in life is on the other side of hard.
• 23:30
  S2: And so I think I do share maybe a level
• 23:32
  S2: of concern about, you know, shortcuts. Obviously, there is a
• 23:36
  S2: level of, you know, strategy. You could be shrewd, you
• 23:38
  S2: could use digital media to be shrewd and make a living.
• 23:41
  S2: And so I don't think there's anything wrong with that necessarily.
• 23:44
  S2: I think even going back to this, you know, the
• 23:47
  S2: absence of work I've seen recently, you know, Elon Musk
• 23:49
  S2: said that, you know, in the future, you know, AI
• 23:52
  S2: is going to make it possible for people to not
• 23:54
  S2: have to work at all. And, you know, I think
• 23:56
  S2: people share that and they're like, man, this is exciting.
• 23:59
  S2: But I think biblically that's terrifying because God made us
• 24:03
  S2: to work. He made us to work. Even you may
• 24:05
  S2: be familiar Christian like we are with the expression or
• 24:08
  S2: the axiom, enjoy what you do and you'll never work
• 24:12
  S2: a day in your life. Yes. And I think to
• 24:15
  S2: be fair, my generation is on the receiving end of
• 24:17
  S2: that axiom. They've been told by people for their whole life,
• 24:22
  S2: enjoy what you do and you'll never work a day
• 24:24
  S2: in your life. I take I take issue with that
• 24:27
  S2: phrase for a couple of reasons. First of all, every
• 24:31
  S2: job has its thorns. We work in a fallen world.
• 24:34
  S2: I love my job. I love being a pastor. I
• 24:36
  S2: love shepherding God's people. But sometimes my job is work, right?
• 24:41
  S2: It's hard, and everything good in life is on the
• 24:43
  S2: other side of hard. Secondly, when you tell the next generation,
• 24:47
  S2: enjoy what you do and you'll never work a day
• 24:48
  S2: in your life, you're putting work in a negative category.
• 24:52
  S2: You're saying, son, if you enjoy what you do, you'll
• 24:53
  S2: never have to work. So you make work a bad thing.
• 24:56
  S2: But work is not a bad thing. Work is a
• 24:58
  S2: good thing. Work is a God thing. I want to
• 25:01
  S2: tell my son. And we just had a baby boy
• 25:04
  S2: last month. I want my son growing up. And I
• 25:07
  S2: want to say, son, work is the way we honor God.
• 25:09
  S2: Let's work hard. Even with my daughters, there are five, three, two.
• 25:13
  S2: I say we're the artos. We're hard. And then they respond, workers.
• 25:18
  S2: And so I think that because work has been framed
• 25:21
  S2: as a negative thing, people grow up going, I want
• 25:25
  S2: to escape the rat race. And to a degree, I
• 25:27
  S2: understand it like, hey, you should be strategic. But so
• 25:31
  S2: much has been framing work in this, this negative category.
• 25:33
  S1: Yeah. You got to get that five year old out
• 25:36
  S1: there and have her get a job as soon as possible. Okay.
• 25:39
  S1: Johnny Ardavanis is with us. I want to hear how
• 25:42
  S1: you feel about the work you do. 8775. 4836. Seven. Five.
• 25:48
  S1: Get to work. Our featured resource. Chris Fabry live.org. Astronaut
• 26:04
  S1: Johnny Ardavanis is with us today at the back fence.
• 26:07
  S1: His new book is Get to Work. It's really, really
• 26:10
  S1: good seeing your daily grind as God's good gift. Featured
• 26:16
  S1: resource at Chris fabry.org. On Facebook, I posted this. How
• 26:20
  S1: do you feel about the work you do? And I
• 26:22
  S1: didn't say anything more than that. Is this a simple question?
• 26:25
  S1: How do you feel about the work you do? Dawn says,
• 26:28
  S1: I'm retired, but I'm teaching art to more than 100
• 26:31
  S1: home schoolers. We survived by donations from the kindness of
• 26:35
  S1: others because we don't charge. My husband does music. I
• 26:39
  S1: missed teaching in the public schools, so it really makes
• 26:42
  S1: me feel good. Mary says I'm a stalker in a
• 26:45
  S1: major home improvement store. I love it. Mary says, I'm
• 26:51
  S1: retired and I love it. Ivy says, I'm delighted I
• 26:54
  S1: am a teacher. It is an honor. I'm blessed to
• 26:58
  S1: have a job helping older adults. Michelle says, and be
• 27:02
  S1: their caregiver, I love it. Cheryl says I've enjoyed being
• 27:06
  S1: a medical transcriptionist for more than 25 years. That's the
• 27:11
  S1: good news. The bad news? I've lost all but one
• 27:14
  S1: doctor to AI. I'm not too happy about that. And
• 27:18
  S1: Tracy says, I'm a paralegal. It's okay. I just wish
• 27:22
  S1: attorneys were easier to work with. Okay, I get that too.
• 27:27
  S1: Johnny responds to some of those. What stands out to you?
• 27:32
  S2: I think there's obviously like a level of, you know,
• 27:34
  S2: variety to what we do for work. And there's some difficulty,
• 27:39
  S2: you know, obviously the landscape of, of work and can
• 27:42
  S2: have some difficulty with see that it can feel mundane,
• 27:45
  S2: it can feel monotonous, it can be unfair. It can
• 27:47
  S2: feel like, you know, you work with difficult people. And
• 27:50
  S2: one of the things that even in hearing what, you know,
• 27:54
  S2: some of those responses, Chris, that I'm so thankful for,
• 27:56
  S2: I'm so thankful that the Bibles, you know, prescription for
• 28:01
  S2: how to work in a broken world is utterly realistic.
• 28:05
  S2: What I mean by that is the Bible is not
• 28:08
  S2: in la la land. The what we have in the
• 28:11
  S2: New Testament is fully in light of the thorns difficulties.
• 28:16
  S2: And there is new, you know, innovation that has taken place,
• 28:19
  S2: even referencing the AI. but as far as the day
• 28:23
  S2: to day, and I feel like I've lost a little
• 28:25
  S2: bit of, you know, meaning in my work or there's
• 28:27
  S2: difficulty I work with. I'm a paralegal and I work
• 28:30
  S2: with difficult lawyers. Uh, what we find in God's Word
• 28:33
  S2: is really relevant to all types of people. And I
• 28:36
  S2: think as I walk through the book, you know, Paul
• 28:38
  S2: says in Colossians 323, you know, whatever it is you do,
• 28:42
  S2: do it with all your might. And so initial answer
• 28:45
  S2: to each of those, even the retired person, because there's
• 28:48
  S2: no retirement from the mission of God, you may retire
• 28:51
  S2: from your job, but John nine four still applies. We
• 28:54
  S2: must do the works of him who sent me while
• 28:56
  S2: it is day. Night is coming when no man can
• 28:58
  S2: work us. And so first of all, we need to
• 29:01
  S2: work with a level of enthusiasm. Whatever it is you're doing,
• 29:05
  S2: do it with all your might. Now, one of the
• 29:07
  S2: things that I find fascinating and convicting is that when
• 29:10
  S2: Paul gives that imperative, he's not writing exclusively to CEOs
• 29:15
  S2: and corner offices overlooking the Mediterranean. He's writing to slaves
• 29:19
  S2: and to servants, people on the lowest rung of society.
• 29:23
  S2: And he's saying, hey, if this is what you're doing,
• 29:25
  S2: do it with all your might. He tells them not
• 29:28
  S2: only to work with enthusiasm. He tells them to work
• 29:30
  S2: with excellence, meaning maybe your job is not something that
• 29:32
  S2: you want to do forever. Maybe you find a difficulty
• 29:35
  S2: of working with the people to your left and to
• 29:36
  S2: your right. You're still to work with excellence. You're to
• 29:39
  S2: work with integrity. And Paul says in Ephesians six, ultimately,
• 29:44
  S2: no matter what the job is, Paul says, it is
• 29:47
  S2: Christ whom you serve. Meaning every boss in this life
• 29:51
  S2: is ultimately middle management in comparison with your work being
• 29:55
  S2: done for your king. And I think that's something people
• 29:58
  S2: lose sight of is because, you know, we live in
• 30:01
  S2: kind of a, a very segmented world. You know, a
• 30:04
  S2: couple hundred years ago, someone was a part of both
• 30:06
  S2: the beginning and the finished process. They could see what
• 30:09
  S2: they do come to completion. But now, like a customer
• 30:11
  S2: service representative may have no idea of the product that
• 30:14
  S2: they are representing. You know, they're disconnected from the whole.
• 30:17
  S2: And so it's hard to really see like, well, this
• 30:19
  S2: is what I'm doing. But the Bible says, no, it's
• 30:22
  S2: Christ that you're doing this for. That's why you do
• 30:25
  S2: it with excellence, enthusiasm, integrity. And then one other thing
• 30:28
  S2: that I think has been near and dear to my heart.
• 30:31
  S2: One of the verses that we make kids memorize often.
• 30:33
  S2: It's a verse that my parents made me memorize when
• 30:35
  S2: I was a kid is Philippians 214 do all things
• 30:39
  S2: without grumbling or complaining. Um, I'm just going to pause
• 30:42
  S2: there for a moment. It's really critical for every Christian
• 30:45
  S2: to understand that that is one of the most important
• 30:48
  S2: verses as it relates to our work. Sometimes the water
• 30:51
  S2: cooler talk of the workplace, even amongst Christians, is negative.
• 30:56
  S2: And obviously there can be a level of honesty and transparency,
• 30:59
  S2: but it says do all things without grumbling and complaining.
• 31:01
  S2: And then it says so that you might shine as
• 31:05
  S2: stars in the midst of a perverse and crooked generation.
• 31:08
  S2: Meaning this, that just by the absence of grumbling and complaining,
• 31:14
  S2: you compel the watching world to ask, what God do
• 31:18
  S2: you serve? And going back to what you said at
• 31:20
  S2: the beginning regarding the C.T. Studd quote, only one life
• 31:23
  S2: will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.
• 31:26
  S2: Your attitude while you work, even in something mundane. And
• 31:29
  S2: by the way, we talk about mundane. The greatest man
• 31:32
  S2: in the Old Testament, Moses. For 80 of his 120 years,
• 31:36
  S2: he was wandering around in the desert. It's not like
• 31:39
  S2: all of all of these great heroes. Life was full
• 31:41
  S2: of action. It was going back and forth from Midian
• 31:44
  S2: to 40 years, and then wandering around in the desert
• 31:46
  S2: for another 40. So God's creatures and God's children have
• 31:50
  S2: their PhDs in the mundane. But by the absence of
• 31:53
  S2: grumbling and complaining, we proved to the watching world that
• 31:56
  S2: we've been changed by God. I think it was Tim
• 31:58
  S2: Challies who said, when we work in a way that's
• 32:01
  S2: laced with grumbling and complaining, we make the gospel look bad.
• 32:04
  S2: And so, I don't know, to each of the you know,
• 32:07
  S2: there's obviously a lot that goes to each person's situation
• 32:11
  S2: and the context of their work, but it's really helpful
• 32:14
  S2: to know, first of all, I'm a believer, which means
• 32:16
  S2: my identity is in Christ. It's not in my work.
• 32:19
  S2: Second of all, I have a new motivation in my work,
• 32:21
  S2: even if I'm not really about it. Meaning if I
• 32:23
  S2: don't like being a busboy, uh, but I see my
• 32:26
  S2: I have this motivation. Working with excellence is a way.
• 32:29
  S2: I love my neighbor. And then even I have this
• 32:33
  S2: new push for excellence that it says, I'll tell slaves
• 32:37
  S2: to do their work from the heart, rendering goodwill to
• 32:40
  S2: those above them, meaning that he tells them, hey, it
• 32:43
  S2: should be your objective to bless your boss, even if
• 32:45
  S2: you don't really like him. So much of this is
• 32:48
  S2: countercultural because people want to do the bare minimum. But
• 32:51
  S2: the scripture says to work with the level of gusto
• 32:54
  S2: to give it your very best. And this functions and
• 32:58
  S2: I and so this is where I want to come
• 33:00
  S2: full circle to what I said. Work is more than
• 33:02
  S2: just a place to win people to Christ. You can
• 33:05
  S2: honor the Lord in your work itself. But when you
• 33:08
  S2: work in a way that honors the Lord without grumbling
• 33:10
  S2: and complaining with integrity, excellence, enthusiasm, it functions as the
• 33:14
  S2: platform to be able to tell the watching world around you.
• 33:18
  S2: I've been changed by God and I'm working for and
• 33:22
  S2: unto his glory. And those that makes even the most
• 33:26
  S2: mundane responsibility exciting and thrilling. And because you're seeing even
• 33:32
  S2: the minutia in your life as an opportunity to glorify God.
• 33:34
  S1: Yes. And that is countercultural. And that will, it'll make
• 33:39
  S1: you when you wake up in the morning, it'll make
• 33:42
  S1: you different than anybody else who's coming on to that
• 33:45
  S1: assembly line or whatever it is that you're doing. But
• 33:48
  S1: what happens when you see a stoppage, a stumbling block?
• 33:52
  S1: I want to get Heather in here. Heather, why did
• 33:54
  S1: you call today?
• 33:57
  S3: Um. Good afternoon. Um, tomorrow, unfortunately, I lose my job. Um,
• 34:03
  S3: I've known about this for a couple months, and it's
• 34:05
  S3: my last day. And people who I tell that to, I,
• 34:09
  S3: you know, they're apologetic. And I said, please don't be.
• 34:12
  S3: I said, there's a reason why I'm losing this job.
• 34:15
  S3: And I I've always said, God has a plan. And, um,
• 34:21
  S3: the one thing that I have learned is I can't
• 34:24
  S3: just do this myself. I'm not going to the job
• 34:26
  S3: is just not going to land, you know, right there.
• 34:29
  S3: But I have learned that we're working with God in
• 34:32
  S3: prayer and, um, listening to him for guidance does, you know,
• 34:38
  S3: works with the works, is able to help me with
• 34:42
  S3: getting that position. However, the flip side I always say
• 34:45
  S3: is you just can't expect God to just hand it
• 34:47
  S3: to you. You just can't sit there and pray, God,
• 34:49
  S3: please give me a job and not work towards it
• 34:52
  S3: and try to find that. And, um, so you know
• 34:57
  S3: what I was doing? God's got a better plan for me.
• 35:00
  S3: I know that I just, I just don't know what
• 35:02
  S3: that's going to be. I just have to wait and see.
• 35:04
  S1: Yeah. And, and you're right here in the middle of
• 35:07
  S1: the turmoil, the day before you walk out the door
• 35:11
  S1: for the last time. So there's, you know, that's an
• 35:14
  S1: emotional thing. You probably have friends there that you've worked
• 35:16
  S1: with for, for a while. Let me get Johnny in here.
• 35:19
  S1: Pastor Johnny, what do you say to Heather?
• 35:23
  S2: Well, there is a difficulty of losing your job. And
• 35:26
  S2: I think what was already said, Heather, is so true.
• 35:29
  S2: God has already, Paul says, promised to meet our every
• 35:31
  S2: need in Christ Jesus. God is sovereign over the sparrows,
• 35:35
  S2: two of which fall to the ground. And they're worth
• 35:37
  S2: a single penny. How much more someone who has made
• 35:39
  S2: in his image and purchased by his blood. And so
• 35:42
  S2: there is a level of anxiety that comes in like,
• 35:44
  S2: how am I going to meet the needs of, you know,
• 35:47
  S2: my family? How am I going to meet my needs?
• 35:48
  S2: And so that kind of goes back, honestly, to my
• 35:51
  S2: previous book, what I talked about and just entrusting the Lord,
• 35:53
  S2: which I think Heather's doing a great job at, but
• 35:56
  S2: you know, all those needs, your basic, you know, Maslow's hierarchy,
• 35:59
  S2: you know, what are we going to eat? What are
• 36:00
  S2: we going to wear for clothing? That's what Jesus addresses
• 36:03
  S2: in Matthew six. Do I not care for the larks
• 36:05
  S2: and for the lilies? How much more those who I
• 36:08
  S2: made with my image. Heather did touch on something that
• 36:10
  S2: like a job is not just going to fall into
• 36:12
  S2: her lap. And I think there's, there's truth in that. Obviously,
• 36:14
  S2: you go to God in prayer, and I think that's
• 36:17
  S2: a great place to start, Chris, because according to Jesus,
• 36:20
  S2: our greatest problem in life is not unanswered prayers, but
• 36:23
  S2: unoffered prayers. He says, you have not because you ask not.
• 36:27
  S2: And so we do go to God in prayer and
• 36:29
  S2: we ask him. But then also we read in Proverbs that.
• 36:32
  S2: And in Psalms, wisdom, literature that you prepare for the
• 36:36
  S2: horse for battle, and the battle belongs to the Lord,
• 36:38
  S2: meaning this, that we we serve the Lord and honor
• 36:41
  S2: the Lord with our diligence, all while we depend on him.
• 36:44
  S2: I think sometimes people view waiting on the Lord as
• 36:47
  S2: synonymous with idleness, but waiting on the Lord is active.
• 36:50
  S2: Even when you go to the example of Esther who
• 36:52
  S2: waited on the Lord, she prepared a feast, a fast.
• 36:55
  S2: She went to the king and she trusted the Lord.
• 36:58
  S2: And so when we encounter some of those difficult situations, Heather,
• 37:01
  S2: and I'm so sorry to hear that about your job.
• 37:03
  S2: Waiting on the Lord means we pray, and then we
• 37:06
  S2: make some moves honestly and try to evaluate what are
• 37:08
  S2: some other opportunities? How can the body of Christ and
• 37:11
  S2: the community of faith around me help me to find
• 37:14
  S2: something that would both provide for my needs and honor
• 37:16
  S2: the Lord? And. And sometimes we look back and we're
• 37:19
  S2: so thankful for God's providences. And one Puritan said that
• 37:23
  S2: the way God leads us, his providence is a rehearsal
• 37:25
  S2: in worship because we're always. We end up thankful. And
• 37:28
  S2: if we're not thankful in this life and we can't
• 37:30
  S2: connect the dots one day in glory, when we meet
• 37:32
  S2: him face to face, we'll understand the tapestry he's weaving
• 37:35
  S2: of our life, which is often fraught with difficulty.
• 37:39
  S1: Heather, how's your heart? How do you. I sense that
• 37:42
  S1: you are really trusting in God, but at the same
• 37:45
  S1: time it feels like. But I don't know what's next.
• 37:49
  S1: And that's both exciting and stirring up fear in a
• 37:53
  S1: certain sense, right?
• 37:55
  S3: Uh, it is because it's like, you know, we're sitting there,
• 37:58
  S3: I'm sitting here waiting, okay, what's going to be my
• 38:01
  S3: next opportunity? And I don't know, you know, I've been
• 38:04
  S3: in one industry for so long now that industry is dying,
• 38:07
  S3: I have to move on to another industry. And it's,
• 38:11
  S3: you know, I'm looking through job descriptions and I'm like, okay,
• 38:13
  S3: I think I can do this. And I'm like, and
• 38:15
  S3: I sit there and I apply and, you know, pray
• 38:19
  S3: I get, um, you know, an interview and I just tell,
• 38:23
  S3: I just give it up to God. And I said,
• 38:25
  S3: you know, he has had a plan for my whole life.
• 38:29
  S3: And I go back and I look at, um, real quick,
• 38:32
  S3: I have a son with cerebral palsy. And when he
• 38:35
  S3: was born, I had to lose my job. And because
• 38:38
  S3: I couldn't go back to work and they begged me
• 38:41
  S3: to come back and they finally said, okay, if we
• 38:43
  S3: give you a laptop, will you work at home? And
• 38:45
  S3: I was able to be home with my kids for
• 38:47
  S3: seven years because of that. So there's a reason for everything.
• 38:51
  S3: And I've learned that. I said, God has always made
• 38:54
  S3: sure I have food on my table, clothes on my back,
• 38:56
  S3: and a roof over my head. Everything else is gravy.
• 39:00
  S3: So as long as those needs are met, I know
• 39:03
  S3: I'm going to continue on. So actually here at 3:00.
• 39:07
  S3: I got a job interview. Phone interview. So hoping it
• 39:10
  S3: goes well, but, well.
• 39:12
  S1: Your confidence, your confidence is infectious. The way that you say,
• 39:18
  S1: you know, God is going to work this out. I
• 39:21
  S1: know he's going to do this. I don't know the
• 39:23
  S1: time frame, but I'm going to trust him and not
• 39:25
  S1: just trust myself and that I can do this in
• 39:28
  S1: my own strength. That is really encouraging to us. Even
• 39:32
  S1: though tomorrow is your last day, Heather. Hang on. We'll
• 39:36
  S1: want to send you something that I think will encourage you.
• 39:38
  S1: Tricia will get your information. Johnny Ardavanis has written get
• 39:42
  S1: to work. Seeing your daily grind is God's good gift.
• 39:46
  S1: Find out more at Chris Fabry live.org. This kind of
• 39:58
  S1: program kind of conversation that will reorient you and make
• 40:01
  S1: you want to get out of bed tomorrow and get
• 40:04
  S1: to work. Johnny Ardavanis has written get to work seeing
• 40:08
  S1: your daily grind as God's good gift. Featured resource at
• 40:12
  S1: Chris Fabry live.org. I have to bring this up because
• 40:16
  S1: I've often heard, you know, you can't choose your parents.
• 40:18
  S1: You know you can't choose your siblings. They are the
• 40:21
  S1: what you get. But God did Jesus when he was born,
• 40:27
  S1: Joseph and Mary were chosen. And he and God did
• 40:31
  S1: not choose the professional priest, the rabbi in town, the
• 40:36
  S1: professional religionist you know, he chose a carpenter. So talk
• 40:42
  S1: about that.
• 40:44
  S2: You know, I'm always fascinated by that because, you know,
• 40:47
  S2: different writers have commented on it before that if you
• 40:50
  S2: were expecting, you know, from a Roman perspective, who would
• 40:52
  S2: you know if God was to appear in human flesh,
• 40:55
  S2: what would he be? Well, to a Roman, he would
• 40:57
  S2: be a great general or a political statesman. To a
• 41:00
  S2: Greek he would have been a great philosopher, a thinker. um,
• 41:04
  S2: you know, a statistician, an intellectual. But when the God
• 41:08
  S2: of the Hebrews, when the God of the Bible appeared,
• 41:10
  S2: he appeared as a Tekton. And sometimes we, we think
• 41:15
  S2: about that as a, you know, a carpenter. And we
• 41:16
  S2: have this idea that Jesus was making, you know, custom
• 41:19
  S2: kitchen cabinetry. But from a scriptural and biblical perspective, it
• 41:23
  S2: means that he was a construction worker. He spent his
• 41:26
  S2: life carving down beams, building bridges, hewing stone. He was
• 41:32
  S2: a stonemason. And for most of Jesus's life, he lived
• 41:36
  S2: in total obscurity. That's why the disciples say, can anything
• 41:39
  S2: good come out of Nazareth? Can I mean, who's there? Like,
• 41:42
  S2: is this Jesus, the son of the carpenter? Is what
• 41:44
  S2: they ask of him? So we know about his three
• 41:47
  S2: year ministry, less about maybe the years between 12 and
• 41:51
  S2: 30 when Jesus was in his father's shop. And it's
• 41:54
  S2: amazing that we know that Jesus not only died for
• 41:57
  S2: our sins, but he lives the perfect life that we
• 42:00
  S2: could never live, which qualified him to be our substitute.
• 42:03
  S2: And included in that perfect life is his obedience to
• 42:07
  S2: just be a human, be a worker he worked with.
• 42:11
  S2: You know, you think about it. If if he was
• 42:13
  S2: a bridge builder, he was the best bridge builder there
• 42:16
  S2: ever was because he did it as unto as unto God.
• 42:20
  S2: And so for his glory. And so it is amazing
• 42:22
  S2: to think about. And with that there is clearly seen
• 42:28
  S2: once again the demolishing of the secular sacred divide that
• 42:31
  S2: he was no less about his father's business when he says,
• 42:34
  S2: at the age of 12, didn't you know I would
• 42:36
  S2: be about my father's business? And then for the next
• 42:38
  S2: 18 years, he's in his father's shop as a carpenter.
• 42:41
  S2: He was about his father's business when he was working.
• 42:45
  S2: And it's so much of what we see in the
• 42:47
  S2: opening pages of Scripture God's creativity, his artistry. He's a
• 42:50
  S2: worker and one of one of the passages that I
• 42:52
  S2: love in the Old Testament. Uh, Chris, is the first
• 42:56
  S2: time that we read of someone who's being who's filled
• 43:00
  S2: with the Spirit of God. It's not Moses, the lawgiver,
• 43:03
  S2: nor Elijah the law's greatest prophet. It's Bezalel who was
• 43:07
  S2: instructed with the craftsmanship of the tabernacle. And he never
• 43:13
  S2: preaches a single sermon. He never says a single word
• 43:16
  S2: in recorded scripture. But Bezalel, the man who is given
• 43:20
  S2: the responsibility of the tabernacle, much like Jesus later on,
• 43:23
  S2: was said to be filled with the Spirit of God
• 43:25
  S2: because he was doing his responsibility, the work before him
• 43:28
  S2: in a way that honored the father. And so I'm
• 43:30
  S2: so thankful for that truth, so thankful that no matter
• 43:33
  S2: what you're doing, if you're listening, that you have an
• 43:36
  S2: opportunity to mirror and mimic the God that made you
• 43:38
  S2: and bought you with his blood.
• 43:40
  S1: I have about a hundred questions and Bezalel was on there.
• 43:43
  S1: I'm so glad you brought him up. I want to
• 43:45
  S1: talk about Cathy. Let me crow about Cathy. She says
• 43:48
  S1: I'm semi-retired. I just celebrated 60 years of cosmetology. I've
• 43:54
  S1: always loved doing hair. My parents greatly sacrificed for me
• 43:58
  S1: to do this. So I got my license while I
• 44:01
  S1: was a senior in high school. Yes, there have been glitches,
• 44:04
  S1: but God's been so amazing to use them for his glory.
• 44:08
  S1: And what's so great, too, is that moody radio plays
• 44:12
  S1: in my shop every day. I'm there. My customers enjoy
• 44:15
  S1: it and they're all my friends and family. Thanks for
• 44:18
  S1: your program today. So Cathy, if you are in the
• 44:21
  S1: in the shop today doing hair, we salute you and
• 44:24
  S1: thank you. And you can just hear that 60 years. Johnny.
• 44:29
  S1: That's a long track record, isn't it?
• 44:31
  S2: Yeah. Congratulations. That's amazing Cathy. Kudos to you. And that's
• 44:37
  S2: a life well lived to be able to do something
• 44:40
  S2: that's a service, right? So even going back to loving
• 44:42
  S2: your neighbor, everybody needs a haircut. And that's a way
• 44:45
  S2: that you you love and serve other people. It's a
• 44:48
  S2: service that needs to be done. And I'm so grateful
• 44:50
  S2: for the person that cuts my hair. So Cathy, congratulations.
• 44:54
  S1: We'll let your let your tip do the talking. You know,
• 44:57
  S1: the next time that your tip be your, uh, the
• 45:01
  S1: way you say thank you. Okay. So, uh, a minute
• 45:04
  S1: and a half left here, Johnny. What do you say
• 45:07
  S1: to the person who says, yeah, I hear what you're saying,
• 45:10
  S1: but I still struggle getting up in the morning. What
• 45:12
  S1: do you say to them?
• 45:14
  S2: Well, welcome to the club. You know, I would say
• 45:18
  S2: I struggle getting up in the morning. And so, you know,
• 45:20
  S2: one of the things I'm so thankful for, Chris, is
• 45:23
  S2: the models that are put out for us in Scripture.
• 45:26
  S2: You know, Paul says the Christian life is like a boxer,
• 45:28
  S2: a runner, a farmer and a slave. There's nothing easy
• 45:31
  S2: about being a Christian. In fact, it's impossible. We can't
• 45:34
  S2: do it in our own strength. And so we need
• 45:36
  S2: to go to God and ask him for his help.
• 45:38
  S2: Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Convict me of passivity
• 45:40
  S2: and sluggishness. Help me to honor you. And then Paul says,
• 45:44
  S2: I want to spend and be spent for the gospel.
• 45:46
  S2: Meaning we want to live in a way that honors God,
• 45:49
  S2: and we want to make some resolutions, but we can't
• 45:51
  S2: make those resolutions possible without the help of the Holy Spirit.
• 45:54
  S2: And so we have to go to him in prayer
• 45:56
  S2: and ask him for his power.
• 45:58
  S1: Johnny, always great to talk with you. Thank you for
• 46:01
  S1: doing this. Thanks for writing. This is this is one
• 46:03
  S1: of the best books I've read all year. And it's
• 46:06
  S1: going to give some real encouragement. Yeah, it's it's really,
• 46:09
  S1: really good. Get to work seeing your daily grind as
• 46:13
  S1: God's good gift. Pastor Johnny Ardavanis, thanks for joining us
• 46:16
  S1: at the back fence. Have a great rest of the week. Okay.
• 46:20
  S2: All right. Sweet. Thank you so much, Chris.
• 46:22
  S1: And that the emphasis on that is not an imperative.
• 46:26
  S1: Get to work. It's, hey, you get to work. It's
• 46:29
  S1: this is not a chore. This is not a daily
• 46:31
  S1: grind that you have to do. It's you get to
• 46:34
  S1: do something for him and your, your boss is just
• 46:39
  S1: a middle manager, I like that. Thanks for listening today
• 46:42
  S1: for supporting the program. Come on back tomorrow for Chris
• 46:45
  S1: Fabry live production of Moody Radio, a Ministry of Moody
• 46:48
  S1: Bible Institute.