Academic Grind
Theme of the Week: From Career to Calling
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Those who become Christians become new persons. … A new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:17). Bonus Reading:Proverbs 4:25-27
It happens every semester at our university. I enthusiastically put together the syllabus, think of innovative teaching strategies, and fill out a spreadsheet with my class rolls. As classes begin, I meet the students, tell corny jokes, and try to get everyone as motivated as I am.
A few weeks pass. I've given the first exam. Some students are catching on; others have done poorly. Some are missing classes. By mid-term I struggle to maintain my energy level. My corny jokes have gotten cornier. By the 10th week I realize just how long a 15-week semester is. We're all dragging. I remind myself that I'm blessed to have this job and I'm responsible for
those students. But still routines become, well, routine. Life starts to feel pretty old.
We all long for more. God placed that longing in us. It's what led many of us to seek and find Him in the first place. But His transforming power extends well beyond the moment of conversion.
When Paul wrote, "A new life has begun," he didn't mean that the disciple has shifted to a new routine. He was describing an adventure in newness. The key: get yourself out of the way, and allow Christ, the very genesis of creativity, to transform you every routine day.
—Mark Geil in Georgia
My Response: How can I honor Christ by the way I tackle my job today?
Thought to Apply: If your work is becoming uninteresting, so are you. Work can be made lively and interesting only by injecting yourself into it.—GEORGE HUBBS
Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Lord, let me know clearly the work You are calling me to do in life. And grant me the courage, love, and lasting dedication to answer Your call. —Saint Meinrad
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