Reveal

I'm thinking of the show Extreme Home Makeover in which a group of contractors is given a short period of time to remodel a home. I think the time frame is typically 72 hours. Learning about the family is great, and watching the remodel ideal is fun for folks, but no one turns off the show at the great reveal. On the contrary, the whole show leads up to the great reveal. There is a lot of joy in getting to know the families, the work of designing, the work of building, the work of meeting needs, etc. - but the big reveal is the pinnacle.

The Epiphany season reminds us that revealing Jesus to the world is the pinnacle of our story. John 1:31 says, "I myself did not know Him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that He might be revealed to Israel.”

This could easily be rewritten to say, "...for this purpose I came [insert occupation] that He might be revealed to the people around me."

In other words, our occupations ought to bring us great joy - blue collar work, gray collar work, white collar work, home collar work - and we ought to always frame the work that we do in light of fulfilling our vocation - to reveal Jesus to our coworkers and communities.

Finding the joy in our occupations (our "collared" work) and framing it in light of our vocation (our "revealing-Jesus" work), brings a bit more wonder, adventure, and joy to the day-in-and-day-out.