“Work is my joy and my burden.”

“Work is my joy and my burden.”

This line comes from a 2009 interview with the accomplished American novelist Philip Roth.

I not only like the cadence of this quote but also the truth in it.

Let’s face it, the picture of work I’ve spent the past week painting can easily sound romanticized.

Because we’re working a long way from Eden, and it shows.

Bartolomeo di Novo

When my great-great-grandfather came to the United States, he settled in New York and made a living selling produce there. 

His son, my great-grandfather, spent his life operating heavy machinery before serving in WWII. 

His son made a living in a cramped, smoke-filled room as a draftsman. 

Like many immigrants, my great-great-grandfather (and his son and grandson) didn’t have many job opportunities. They took what they could get because they needed money to survive. 

We live in a broken world. As a result, everyone can’t harness the world’s potential through their dream job. And a lot of the time, our work is more a matter of circumstance than choice.

My grandfathers didn’t have a lot of choice when it came to work. But what did they do with the opportunities they had? They provided for their families. 

They gave my father a foundation to get a good education and job. My father, in turn, gave me a similar foundation. I thank God for that.

And it all started with Bartolomeo di Novo working hard at his produce stand. 

A City Built on Potential 

So work isn’t always easy nor is it always what we want.

But that doesn’t mean it’s without hope or beauty.

All work that is done to the glory of God has an incredible, eternal purpose. It takes advantage of the potential God has placed in the world, it calls us back to Eden but also ahead to something even greater…

The Bible begins with minerals scattered around Eden (Genesis 2v10-11) and ends with them fashioned and formed into a glittering city (Revelation 21v10-11). And it’s in this city where all potential has been reached for the glory of God. 

And how is that potential reached?

Through the work of CEOs, single moms, and all those willing to labor alongside Christ.

So when you go to work next week, know that you’re doing more than making deliveries, changing diapers, or studying for an exam.

Go to work knowing that each time you do your job well, each time you work as if Jesus was right there with you, you are creating a window into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Like Brother Lawrence, look at your work, no matter how “mundane,” as the primary place you have to love God and glory in His presence. 

And how do we do that?

Through a job well done, and done for Jesus.

For now, be blessed.

Jon,

Theophilus Newsletter