Devotions - Day 1 - God: The primary Worker

Devtions Day 1 - Genesis 1:1-31
Saturday: God: The Primary Worker

Read Genesis 1:1-31

Biblical history is anything but lazy. From the very beginning the creation account jumps off the page. God in his creative majesty worked and moved to bring about the world. God is the first and primary worker, and all work originates from him. In his work of creation, God demonstrates both creativity and scientific perfection. Consider the many kinds of roles that God took on in forming the world: artist, designer, strategic planner, organizer, project developer, assessor, zoologist, biologist, chemist, linguist, programmer, materials specialist, engineer, and waste management technician, to name but a few. When he had finished, he surveyed his work, and verse 31 of Genesis says he saw it was “very good.”
God’s work was not finished with creation. He continues to work by providing for his creatures, sustaining his creation, and bringing salvation to the world. He is the constant creator and redeemer, ever working and moving in our lives.
How very good it is to know that God is the primary worker in our world. He is moving and working in ways that we will never fully comprehend. His work is never finished, and his good knows no end.
As men and women created in his image, this picture of God as worker holds far-reaching implications. It gives us a mandate that we must partner with God. We must not work for work’s sake. As his beloved children, we are to join with God in his work in the world, to cooperate with him to bring about the redemption of all creation. And when we do this, we honor him.
Partnering with God is simply acknowledging him as the primary worker in our lives and in the world. We work, create, sustain, and embrace in the name of God. We live in a new framework where we acknowledge him as the founder and creator of our lives and vocations. When we do this, an amazing thing happens…even the most mundane of tasks take on kingdom value because we are working in the name of God.
As we begin our week together, let us acknowledge God as the primary worker at Pine Ridge. After all, he has gone ahead of us and has been working in the lives of those on the reservation long before us. And so let us partner with God in his mysterious, wonderful work. Let us cooperate with him in all our labor. And at the end of the week, let us see that our work was very good.