Sacred or Secular

I posted on my Facebook the following post on 18 Sep 2013.

Hudson Taylor, a famous missionary, wrote that "the use of means ought not to lessen our faith in God; and our faith in God ought not to hinder our use of whatever means He has given us for the accomplishment of His own purposes." Practically, he applied this truth in his profession as a physician. He asked God's blessing and guidance for every surgical case that he would make the right diagnosis and use his skills wisely in treatment. However, he also never failed to give God thanks for answered prayer and restored health.

The response from different friends were quite interesting. A dentist commented that she prayed "very hard when the tooth cannot come out." It affirms in us our calling in life and they are not to be divided into what is sacred or what is secular. We become split personalities if we do that. There seems to be an invisible disconnect between what we do in our 9-5 job and our spiritual life. For some of us, we feel we have not really served God until we have done so in a ministry in the Church. Is that scriptural? In the relationship between slaves and masters, Apostle Paul made no such distinction. Everything we do is sacred. Worship is whole life, not a portion of time which we set aside. Whether we are in our workplace, school, church or home, we are serving God.
 Ephesians 6:7-8
7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.  
Our life is a worship to God.

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
I love the words of Martin Luther, the reformist who said: "The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays — not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship."

Excellence in what we do is a calling. Our vocation is an expression of our worship. We try our very best because it is a worship to our God. We will not do any less to Someone we love. It is a matter of attitude and relationship.