“Our daily work can be a calling only if it is reconceived as God’s assignment to serve others.” – Timothy Keller

It has been estimated that an average person will spend about 90,000 hours of their life working. That means one-third of our lives will be dedicated to work and vocation. That is a lot, isn’t it? However, many times, because of how normalised work has become in our lives, it has become something that we take for granted. We just work for the sake of doing so without truly understanding why we work.

As Christians, falling into this pitfall can pose a threat to our spiritual lives. We need to have a strong theological foundation on work and vocation. Why? Because God Himself puts a high value on work. This is why I am recommending Every Good Endeavour by Timothy Keller to everyone who wants to get a Bible-centric view on work.

If you have read the last two articles you may have noticed that the other authors also recommended Every Good Endeavour for further reading, which speaks a lot about the credibility and quality of this book. Using the story of creation and the fall in Genesis as the basis of his book, Tim Keller’s Every Good Endeavour is very comprehensive in telling the readers why the Bible has a very distinct and highly understanding work compared to other cultures and religions. 

What was particularly memorable for me from this book is part two of the book, where Tim Keller discusses how sins can destroy what God intended for good, such as work. What was eye-opening in this part was the way Tim Keller avoids vilifying work itself by making it as if work has become a curse or God’s punishment – the two ideas that I have mistakenly assumed for a long time. Rather, Tim Keller brings us to see that it is the sinful nature of men that turns the goodness of work into something self-centred and self-glorifying. As such, this book does not just give a theological groundwork for us to understand God’s plan for work but also allows us to critically reflect on the ways our sinfulness can alter God’s gift for us.This is just a little bit of a teaser of what Every Good Endeavour offers for the readers. I could go on and on to show how this book has blessed me, but it would be much better to read the book for yourselves. It is an excellent book that should be on everyone’s bookshelves, whether you are an avid reader or not because as Christians, we need to have that solid ground for our work lives so that we can use work not just to glorify God, but also to find joy and purpose in our vocation.