‘Don’t count the days, make the days count.’ Muhammed Ali
Make your workdays count!
Work is not just some place for us to kill time whilst getting paid, says Liam Husband
It was the great Muhammed Ali who said, “Don’t count the days, make the days count.” That reminds me of a job I once had with Colman’s Mustard.
Every break without fail the workers would talk about holidays and retirement whilst calculating just how many days were left until they could walk away. Some of them had walked straight into the factory from school. Probably the only thing that had changed in 30 years of service would have been the labels!
Whatever it is we do, we can’t escape the fact that we spend most of our adult lives at work. We must also realise that work is not just some place for us to kill time whilst getting paid – it’s where Jesus commissions us to ‘go into all the world and make disciples’ (Matt 28:19).
How would we approach our everyday work if we grasped that Jesus authorises us to act on his behalf to fulfil our calling as his witnesses?
Our workplace gives us the perfect opportunity to be salt and light. This isn’t a command to run full throttle into the canteen with your sandwich boards hanging around your neck. It’s the invitation for us to nurture deep relationships and reflect Jesus.
Anything we do in the workplace has to start from a place of relationship. It’s not about grabbing the first moment to bombard a work colleague with the gospel. The goal is to develop healthy relationships from a place of transparency. Sharing your life from a place of transparency presents no threat. Being open builds trust, especially when we share our struggles and the fact that even though we follow Jesus we don’t have all the answers.
Who we are matters, and how we work can communicate Jesus more than our actual words. Whatever your role, you are in a professional environment where the standard and delivery of your work matter above anything else. For your faith to have any value in the workplace you must have your colleagues’ professional respect.
How we work could be the one thing that turns on the light for our co-workers. As Jesus said, “that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven,” (Matt 5:16).
Every day counts and we need to realise that playing a part in someone’s journey to faith in Jesus could begin with something as simple as having a cup of coffee with a colleague, encouraging someone who is having a tough week, or offering a helping hand to a boss or co-worker under stress.
Liam Husband is a member of the MPower team
This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.
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