Thank God it’s Monday is not your usual sentiment. Yay! I get to go to work! We’re usually looking forward to our last day of work on Friday and counting the days until we can do our own thing. When the Pastor announced our next sermon series as “Thank God it’s Monday” I’m sure many people were either confused or curious. Since Monday is my husband’s only day off I was a little put off that everyone was bemoaning Mondays on Facebook. I was very grateful that day had come so we could have some uninterrupted time together. Maybe. Every time I saw someone posting on social media about their longing for Friday I would think, “please do not wish my days away.” Each and every day is another day to live, love, serve and experience. Besides that, be thankful you have a job which provides money for mortgages, cars, food, clothes, etc. You’re probably thinking, “but Angela, you’ve never had a job you dreaded or hated or had to work with the people I do.” You have no idea. I got straight out of college in 1970 and started working at a sewing factory making little girl’s dresses. Not exactly my dream job at $57.38 a week for 40 hours. Years later, I was Word Processing Manager at Olivet College which was a fancy name for one who runs the machines and provides work for a few college students. I was bored out of my mind. I’m a people person; not a machine person! I hated going to work and prayed and prayed for another job and applied for any job that opened at the college for which I was qualified. Only to be stuck in that one 9 x 10 room running four typing machines and one type setting machine in the basement of the office complex. You had better believe I looked forward to Friday.However, as a follower of Jesus, with a little help from some wiser people I learned to cope even at these jobs and to be content by changing my perception about my job. My job was an opportunity to share my life in Jesus with others. At the sewing factory we weren’t allowed to talk while sewing but I could pray for the people there and for the girls who would one day wear the dresses. It gave me purpose and meaning in a seemingly meaningless job. At the college I had a chance to rub shoulders and connect with people who didn’t know Jesus. Since I’d been in Bible college for a few years, I lost touch with how the unsaved think and feel. Listening to them was very enlightening and taught me to have compassion. It also gave me an opportunity to share my testimony and influence them toward Jesus. But what I really had wrong was that I didn’t look at my job as ministry. I had gone to Bible College to prepare myself for fulltime ministry not sewing dresses. Instead of being thankful that my Mom had taught me how to sew and I was able to get a job to help support my husband and I while he finished college, I was complaining. However, the Bible tells us “that in whatever we do, do it wholeheartedly and as unto the Lord.” I had compartmentalized my life into work, home life, ministry, etc. But eventually learned that all my life is permeated with serving the Lord and others because I’m His. Whether I’m washing dishes, performing my responsibilities at work, mothering my children, greeting on Sunday, or sharing my testimony, it’s all done as unto God which makes it ministry – serving God for His purposes with the talents and opportunities I have. Now that should give us a new perspective on our jobs and lives. Our lives are lived one day at a time, one moment at a time for the glory of God; not for our own selfish pleasure. According to Romans 12:1 we are living sacrifices. We sacrifice our own desires, wants, needs for others as unto God. This means there’s no distinction between one day or another, they are all lived in and for God for His pleasure and glory.Yes, some of us are called into a paid, fulltime ministry of pastoring or being a missionary or evangelist in order to help train others to do the work of the ministry. But most of us are simply called to let our lives be a ministry 24/7 whether at home, work, or play. Thank God it’s Monday! – a day filled with possibilities and opportunities.Thank God for Tuesday – another day to serve and fulfill my purpose to glorify God.Thank God it’s Wednesday – a day to connect others with God’s presence in me.Thank God’s it’s Thursday – a day to make a difference in my family, my job and others.Thank God’s it’s Friday – a day to live as unto the Lord and bring Him pleasure.Thank God’s it’s Saturday – a day to get things done to the glory of God.Thank God’s it’s Sunday – the day to worship and celebrate the goodness of the Lord! Whatever day it is, remember you are called for a purpose to do the “handiwork God prepared in advance for you to do” and that includes everything and every day! Go seize the day!

Angela M Coon

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