A life with meaning and purpose

This morning I was led to read Eugene Petersen's introduction to the book of Nehemiah - see "The Message". He begins: Separating life into distinct categories of "sacred" and "secular" damages, sometimes irreparably, any attempt to live a whole and satisfying life, a coherent life with meaning and purpose, a life lived to the glory of God.......Work, by its very nature, is holy. The biblical story is dominated by people who have jobs.... Nehemiah is one of these. He started out as a government worker in the employ of a foreign king. ...His co-worker Ezra was a scholar and teacher... Nehemiah worked with stones and mortar. The stories of the two men are interwoven in a seamless fabric of vocational holiness. ...Nehemiah needed Ezra; Ezra needed Nehemiah."

 

This first appeared as a Comment to Joyce Voysey's post dated 31/7/12.