There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. – 1 Corinthians 12:6

Today's Scripture Reading (February 19, 2021): 1 Corinthians 12

Life requires all of us if it is going to function appropriately. One of the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic's central features was a re-evaluation of the term "essential worker." An essential worker was no longer reserved for just police officers, firefighters, paramedics, doctors, and nurses. Essential workers also began to include grocery store clerks, those who restocked the grocery shelves, and the men and women who collect our trash. Some people even began to complain that governments had begun to widen the definition of "essential worker" so far that everyone seemed to be included; everyone was essential.

But maybe that is the point. We are all essential. To survive in this world, we really do need each other and all of the activities in which we participate in our daily lives. Whatever job you work at, you are essential to the well working of this world. Maybe it doesn't feel like it now, but you are critical to the planets operation, regardless of the job you provide to generate an income or the volunteer hours you freely give to provide for those less fortunate. We are all essential. This world doesn't work without you.

Paul is trying to make precisely this point. We all go to work, we all receive different paychecks, but the amount of our financial compensation does not reflect how important we might be. It is the one mistake that we often make in our culture. We think that receiving more money somehow indicates that we are more critical to the world around us. But Paul doesn't believe that that is true. Paul stresses that we all perform essential jobs and tasks; we are all involved in a myriad of activities, but in the end, what makes us essential is that we allow God to work through us as we do our jobs and complete our activities. What is valid for the sacred world of spiritual gifts and ministries is also true for the things we do in the secular world.

So, go and be essential. Because regardless of what you are doing, the world needs you to go forward. And whether you are a garbage collector or Doctor, whether you work in a grocery store or a big office building, or possibly just volunteer at a local children's center, God is working through you. And in the end, that is all that really matters.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 13