The New York Post recent ran an article about an alcoholic court stenographer that went rogue. Daniel Kochanski created havoc on some major court cases causing various judges to have “reconstruction hearings” where witnesses tried to remember what they had testified. What was the problem?

It seems that for months, Daniel sat at his little stool in the courtroom and typed away. But he wasn’t typing what the witnesses were saying; instead he was either hitting random keys or typing, “I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job” over and over again.

As we all start this new workweek, I am wondering how many of us might have similar feelings about our employment. (For the record, I LOVE my job and feel incredibly blessed to work every day where I do, doing what I do and with whom I do it!) But I am keenly aware that not everyone out on the freeway at 7:30 a.m. feels the same way.

If you factor in the 21 years we prepare for work and the 13 years (on average) that we spend in retirement, we will all spend between 20-33% of our waking hours working. That is a big chunk of our lives. We ought to enjoy it.

Maybe it will help to be reminded about some important biblical principles about work. It was ordained by God (before the fall!). And work was meant to last a lifetime (Genesis 3:19). It is not a punishment of some kind. It has specific purposes. It provides resources for our family. It allows us to share with others.

Work is honorable. And when it is done with the right attitude, it brings glory to God. Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life wrote, “Work becomes worship when you dedicate it to God and perform it with an awareness of His presence.”

Work can become a kind of platform for evangelism. We spend a great deal of time with our co-workers. Both “accidentally” and intentionally we can spend lots of time discussing eternal things.

And the bottom line is, work is our response to the principle outlined in Colossians 3:22-24. We are to do our work with a whole heart as if we were working directly for the Savior. And we are! When we serve with a good attitude (in spite of less than wonderful circumstances) we are recognizing whom we actually work for -Him!

We can choose to be happy at work. But it is a choice.

So maybe we ought to sit down at our computers this morning and start typing: “I love my job, I love my job, I love my job!”

By His Grace and for His Glory,
Sherry L. Worel