I am examining the difference between your job and your work when you are indeed a Christ-follower. Understanding the difference is the key to finding joy and purpose for your life.

When you know what work God has planned for you to do, that job doesn't have the hold on you it used to. The frustrations don't get to you like they used to. You run into a problem, deal with it as best you can with God's help, but you always know: "Hey, this is just a job."

Also, your priorities are much clearer when you understand the difference in your work and your job. You make better decisions about what to do and how you spend your time. Then you can prioritize your life so you have time to do your work.

Please keep in your mind the ever-present vision of standing before Jesus to give an account of how you've used your time here on earth. We're told in 1 Corinthians 3 that our work will be shown for what it is at the Day of Judgment. And we will have either wood, hay, or straw, or we'll have gold, silver, and costly stones. And they will be tested by fire, to see which ones last.

Now, wood, hay, and straw take up a lot more space than gold, silver and costly stones, right? And we get fooled sometimes by volume. A million dollars could buy a bunch of wood, hay and straw, and it would take up a great deal of space. You'd have to notice it. But if you bought a million dollars worth of gold, silver and costly stones, you could hold them in your hand or at most a small bag. You might not notice it because it wouldn't take up much room.

If we don't understand the difference, we might opt for the wood, hay, and straw because it looks bigger. But that stuff goes up real fast when you strike a match to it; whereas the gold and silver and costly stones will survive any fire you put them through.

Do you get the picture here? You don't want to spend your life doing things that eventually won’t matter. Don't let volume fool you; don't let appearances deceive you. Make sure you know what your work is, what God wants you to do, and then do it with all your heart, mind, and soul. That's gold, silver, and costly stones, and they will endure to eternity.