The Verse - Psalm 86:12

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.

Psalm 86:12 (ESV)

So we've been reading John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life at our church's Thursday night theology class. It's a great book and I totally recommend it. After all, what could be more important than finding out how not to waste your life? We only get one very brief chance at it, so it really should be everyone's priority.

I digress... so we're now up to Chapter 8, which is titled "Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5." This is a really great and practical chapter, in which Piper explains why not every Christian should be a pastor or a full time missionary, and how it is just as important to have Christians in the secular working world. But the ongoing problem is, how do you focus on God at work, where if you're like me you have a million and one other things going through your mind? Essentially, how do you avoid leaving God at the door and picking Him up on the way home?

Well, one of the suggestions Piper makes is to have fellowship with God in all our work throughout the day. Great idea, but kind of hard to put into practice. After all, we don't want to fail to do our work because we were busy having fellowship with God.

In this chapter John Piper talks about "breathing out continual thanks to God", which involves memorising bible verses and Psalms that we can reflect on while working. This is a great idea. But then the pessimist in me thought: Heck, when am I going to remember to do that? And then I thought about all the repetitive jobs I do at work that actually don't require 100% concentration. Walking up and down the stairs between floors, standing over the photocopier etc. I'm sure you too have some pretty regular brainless tasks at your work. Well, what if I used this time to meditate on God's word and to refocus myself back on Him.

So that's what I started doing this week with the Psalm above. And I tell you what, it's been really helpful. It puts my focus back on God and makes me remember that I am working for Him - that the only reason I am able to do my job is because of the talents and abilities He has given me by His grace. It also makes me remember that as a Christian, I am a representative of Jesus and that in all I do and say at work I should try to glorify God. 

So what "brainless tasks" do you do every day at work, home or school, which you could turn into precious moments for reflecting on God and all He has done for you?