Scripture Reading: Mark 12:28–31

Seeing that Jesus is skilled at interpreting scripture, a scribe asks him a question that was under contention among Jewish leaders. “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answers with two commandments that would be well known to his listeners. The first is a declaration to the Jewish people from Deuteronomy 6:5: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Then he quotes Leviticus 19:18: ”You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

If there are just two tasks God wants us to concentrate on more than any other they are loving God and loving those around us. Work can be one of the primary ways we respond to the Great Commandment. Yet many people fail to recognize that work can be a way of loving others. Many jobs give Christians an opportunity to fulfill the basic needs of another person. Take health care: a doctor who writes a prescription, a pharmacist who fills that prescription, and the person who stocks the shelves at the pharmacy all play a role in delivering necessary health services to their neighbors. Further up and down the supply chain we see the invaluable work of scientists who test the effectiveness of medical interventions, construction workers who maintain the roads along which medication travels, and case workers who process health insurance claims.

But human needs do not only include healthcare. People also need food, shelter, laughter, and connection to meaning greater than themselves. So farmers and restaurant workers, home builders and home insurers, comedians and children, and philosophers and pastors all have ways to love others through their daily work, simply by doing their work well. Every time you cross a street, you depend on the love shown by the mechanics who did the most recent brake jobs on every car hurtling toward the intersection.

We can love God consciously while doing our work. But if continuous mindfulness is not our particular gift, we can also love God by doing something that God wants done. Many industries or workplaces have problems that call for redemption. A Christian worker can do something God wants done by modeling forgiveness, compassion, and integrity.

Prayer: Lord, loving you and loving others are your most important commands. Show me how I can love you and love others through my everyday work. Amen.

For Further Exploration: Read Our Work Fulfills the Great Commandment (Mark 12:28-34) from the Theology of Work Bible Commentary.

Author: Theology of Work Project

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