Hello, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. As we near the end of 2025, I want to talk about something many of us are feeling right now but might not want to admit. For some of you, this hasn't been the year you hoped for. Maybe you're out of work or underemployed. Maybe finances are tighter than you expected. Maybe the holidays feel heavy instead of joyful because you can't afford what you wish you could give your family. Maybe you're doing work that feels beneath you, work that seems insignificant or even demeaning.
If that's where you are, I want to share something with you today that might change how you see your circumstances. It's a reflection from Chuck Colson about Jesus—not about His miraculous ministry or His glorious resurrection, but about the thirty years He spent doing ordinary, manual labor in a carpenter's shop in Nazareth.
[Jesus the carpenter - the forgotten years]
Colson begins: "When we think of Jesus, we tend to focus on His birth or His last three years on this earth. But we should also remember that Jesus spent most of His life engaged in manual labor."
Think about that! Jesus lived approximately thirty-three years on earth. But He only had a public ministry for about three years—from roughly age 30 to 33. What was He doing for the first thirty years? He was growing up and then working as a carpenter, working with wood and stones (most likely). Making plows, yokes, furniture, tools, perhaps even helping build houses. Day after day, year after year, Jesus did ordinary manual labor.
Colson shares a fascinating detail: "Back in Galilee in the second century, the Christian apologist Justin Martyr said that during his lifetime it was still common to see farmers using plows made by the carpenter Jesus of Nazareth."
[The quality of His work - plows that lasted]
Think about what that means! More than a hundred years after Jesus made those plows, farmers were still using them. They were so well-made, so durable, so excellent in craftsmanship that they lasted for generations. Theologian Os Guinness, in his book "The Call," asks us to consider this: "How intriguing to think of Jesus' plow rather than His Cross—to wonder what it was that made His plows and yokes last and stand out."
Jesus didn't just slap together functional plows. He made them with excellence, with care, with attention to detail. He made them to last. Why? Because even in the ordinary work of carpentry, Jesus was glorifying God. He was serving people. He was doing His Father's will.
[Our tendency - exalting spiritual over manual]
But Colson points out our problem: "Today, Christians typically exalt spiritual work above manual work. After all, what's making a plow compared with preaching to multitudes, feeding the five thousand, or raising someone from the dead?"
We do this, don't we? We think pastors and missionaries are doing "real" ministry while those who work in offices, factories, restaurants, or homes are just... working. We think spiritual work matters to God while manual or ordinary work is somehow less significant. We elevate some callings while looking down on others.
But Colson challenges this thinking: "But the very fact that Jesus did make plows—and made them well—suggests that any work can be done to the glory of God. Any work can be a genuine calling."
[What is a calling? - God's summons to service]
Guinness defines calling as anything we do "as a response to God's summons and service." It's not limited to pastors or missionaries. When God calls you to some task—even if it's something the world sees as lowly—that task is invested with what Guinness calls "the splendor of the ordinary."
Are you changing diapers? That's a calling if you're doing it in response to God. Are you working at a checkout counter? That's a calling. Are you driving a truck, teaching children, cleaning offices, entering data, serving food? If you're doing it as unto the Lord, it's a genuine calling invested with splendor.
[Drudgery transformed - done for God]
Guinness writes something profound: "Drudgery done for ourselves or for other human audiences will always be drudgery, but drudgery done for God is lifted and changed."
Let that sink in. The same task—the same tedious, repetitive, unglamorous work—can be either soul-crushing drudgery or meaningful service to God, depending on who you're doing it for. If you're just clocking in to make money, if you're just trying to impress your boss, if you're just working to gain status—it will feel like drudgery. But if you're doing it as unto the Lord, offering it up as worship, seeing it as your calling from God—it's transformed!
Colossians 3:23-24 says: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
[Discipleship in the ordinary - accepting humble tasks]
Colson continues: "Accepting drudgery is one of the ways we practice discipleship—learning to offer it up sacrificially to God."
This is crucial, especially at the end of a difficult year. Maybe you didn't get the promotion you hoped for. Maybe you lost the job you loved and had to take something less desirable. Maybe you're doing work that doesn't match your education or your dreams. But what if this is exactly where God has you right now for a purpose? What if accepting this "drudgery" is part of your discipleship—your spiritual formation?
God is more interested in transforming your character than in making you comfortable. He's more concerned with your holiness than your happiness. And sometimes, He uses humble, ordinary work to shape us into the image of Christ.
[Jesus's example - towels not spotlights]
Guinness writes: "We look for the big things to do—[but] Jesus took a towel and washed the disciples' feet. We like to speak and act out of the rare moments of inspiration—[but] He requires our obedience in the routine, the unseen, and the thankless."
We want the spotlight. We want the impressive ministry. We want to be known, celebrated, significant. But Jesus washed feet. Jesus made plows. Jesus did the ordinary, the routine, the unseen, the thankless—and He did it with excellence, as worship to His Father.
Colson concludes: "We, His followers, must be willing to take on the humble and thankless tasks as well—and not become impatient with changing diapers, doing homework, or taking out the trash."
[Application for difficult year-ends - when it's not what you hoped]
So let me speak directly to those of you who are struggling as this year ends. Maybe you're out of work and spending the holidays wondering how you'll provide. Maybe you're working two jobs just to make ends meet. Maybe you're doing work you feel is beneath you—work you never imagined you'd be doing at this stage of life. Maybe you can't afford the Christmas you wish you could give your family.
I want you to hear this: If you are frustrated in your job or think the work you have to do is beneath you, just remember that for thirty years, the One who turned water into wine and raised the dead to life...made wooden plows.
Jesus—the Creator of the universe, the Word who spoke galaxies into existence, the Savior who would die on the cross and rise from the dead—spent most of His earthly life doing manual labor. He wasn't "too good" for carpentry. He didn't consider it beneath Him. He made plows with such excellence that they were still being used a century later.
[No work is beneath you if it wasn't beneath Jesus]
If carpentry wasn't beneath Jesus, then no honest work is beneath you. If the King of Kings could serve as a carpenter for many years before His three-year ministry, then you can serve faithfully in whatever work God has given you right now—even if it's not what you hoped for, even if it's not what you trained for, even if it's not what you think you deserve.
The question isn't "Is this work worthy of me?" The question is "Can I do this work as unto the Lord? Can I offer this as worship? Can I serve faithfully here until God moves me elsewhere?"
[Trusting God's timing - the carpenter became the Savior]
And remember: Jesus didn't stay a carpenter forever. For thirty years, He lived and worked in relative obscurity in Nazareth. But when the time was right, God called Him to His public ministry. The carpenter became the preacher. The plowmaker became the miracle worker. The humble craftsman became the Savior of the world.
Your current season may not be your permanent season. God may have bigger plans for you. But even if He doesn't—even if He calls you to faithful service in ordinary work for the rest of your life—that work matters! It has eternal significance if it's done for His glory!
[Practical encouragement - five ways to glorify God in ordinary work]
Let me give you five practical ways to glorify God in your work during this difficult season. First, do your work with excellence, as Jesus did. Even if no one else notices, even if you're not appreciated, make your "plows" well. Let your work quality be your witness.
Second, serve the people around you—your coworkers, your customers, your family. Jesus's plows served farmers. Your work, whatever it is, serves people. See it as ministry, not just a job.
Third, offer your work as worship. Start each day by consciously dedicating your work to God. Pray: "Lord, I offer this day's work to You as an act of worship. Help me do it as unto You, not for human approval."
Fourth, trust God's provision and timing. He knows your needs. He knows your desires. He knows your frustrations. Trust that He has you where you are for a reason, and He'll move you when the time is right. Matthew 6:31-33: "Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Fifth, remember that your identity is in Christ, not in your job. You are not defined by what you do or how much you make. You are a child of God, redeemed by Christ's blood, filled with His Spirit, and called to bring Him glory in whatever you do.
[The holidays and financial stress - practical help]
Now, let me speak specifically to those struggling financially during the holidays. If you can't afford the Christmas you wish you could give, remember: Jesus was born in a stable. The King of Kings had a feeding trough for His first bed. His parents brought the offering of the poor to the temple—two turtledoves instead of a lamb—because they couldn't afford more.
Your children don't need expensive gifts to experience the joy of Christmas. They need your presence, your love, your faith. Tell them the story of Jesus. Sing carols together. Bake simple treats. Focus on the incarnation—God becoming man to save us—not on materialism.
And if you're alone during the holidays, struggling financially and emotionally, remember that Jesus knows loneliness. He knows poverty. He knows what it's like to be misunderstood and undervalued. He's with you in your struggle.
[Looking toward 2026 - hope for the new year]
As we move from 2025 into 2026, some of you are hoping for change—a new job, better circumstances, financial breakthrough. Those are good hopes, and it's appropriate to pray for them. But even if circumstances don't change immediately, your perspective can change today.
You can choose to see your ordinary work—whatever it is—as a calling from God. You can choose to offer your "drudgery" as worship. You can choose to make your "plows" with excellence, even if no one but God notices.
Let me pray:
Remember: The One who made plows that lasted for generations is the same One who holds your life in His hands. Trust Him. Serve faithfully where you are. And know that no work is insignificant if it's done for the glory of God.
Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations, and do all your work as unto the Lord!
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