I love to work. If there were really elves, I would be a good one. I actually tried it in high school at the mall photo booth, but I didn’t last long. At night, elves attract the naughty crowd! As I look at the events of the real Christmas story, work is one area that required “living less.”

To bring together the greater, divine storyline of God becoming human, busy people like me (and you?) had to know when to let work take a lesser place.

How do we know when to set aside our work? Do we wait ’til there’s an ice storm and work shuts down? Do we wait until the boss declares a free 1/2 day for the holidays? Do we wait until all of the laundry is done and no one needs anything? (Bless your heart … don’t wait for that one!) Work is rarely ever done, so we need to know when put work in its place, its lesser place, in our lives. Several of the Christmas characters left tracks for us to follow.

Putting work in its place

• Let work be less when God wants to use you for His purposes. Zechariah & Elizabeth – The old couple in Luke 1 went into silence and seclusion while God used them to bear the child who would declare the coming of Jesus. Refusing to let their usual work maintain center stage, they let go of the need to control their circumstances. God not-so-gently nudged them into letting go. As they put their usual work into a lesser place, God positioned them and their child to make Jesus greater.
• Let work be less when God wants to show you His glory. The Shepherds – Our work can most definitely be an act of worship, but it can also be a god. Just imagine what the Shepherds would’ve missed if they would’ve been mastered by their work. If the sheep in their lives would’ve taken the place of greatness, the rest of their lives would’ve been less. Instead, their sheep were not at the center of their world. They were surely never the same after that silent night.
• Let work be less when God wants to take you somewhere new. The Wise Men – I doubt they worried about drinking the water in Bethlehem, having to sleep on strange pallets, or getting stuck in caravan traffic. Maybe they feared losing renown in their homeland while they were gone. Maybe they feared bandits along the way who could rob them of their possessions. Maybe they feared disappointment at the other end of the journey. But they went to the new place where God led them. He asked them to put their routine work into a lesser place of importance, so that He could take them somewhere greater.

Does your work ever threaten to master you? It’s easy to get caught up in our “doing” when it gives us our identity, makes us feel valued, or proves we are skilled. Take it from a would-be elf who has felt the draw of doing more and doing well. Being productive and praised and prominent feels good to anyone, whether you’re a shepherd, accountant, wise man, doctor, priest, pastor, blogger or ____ (You fill in the blank).

I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.” (Psalm 16:2)

Is there anything in the center of your world that has too much of a hold on you? Your kids, your annual bonus, your production numbers, your test scores, your contracts, your ….?   If we don’t know when to put work its place, we may miss out on being used of God, seeing God’s glory, or going to the new place God wants to take us.  (Read more about letting God be our Master)

We can’t even imagine what God has for us in the year to come!

• He might use us!
• He might show us His glory!
• He might take us somewhere new!

Let’s be wise and ready to put work in its place when God calls us to something greater.