“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). This is much easier said than done. It’s easy to apply this scripture when the things our hands find to do are fun and enjoyable. But we want to honor God in all of our activities, not just the things we want to do or that are easy for us. So how do we exercise our “might” in times of drudgery?
Discipline
We all know we need to be more disciplined. Unfortunately, in our age, we have no end of distractions that keep us from really leaning in to discipline. To do this, we must start cutting distractions. Begin to take notice of how your time is spent. Some of us may spend too much time on our phones, so deleting apps and limiting social media would be a good step. Some of us might struggle with discipline because it makes us uncomfortable, so following Paul’s example in 1 Corinthians 9:27 would be appropriate: “…I discipline my body and bring it into subjection…"
A whole heart
To work with our “might”, we need to have a whole heart. A whole heart is one that has its priorities in order, and a Christian’s priorities should be God’s priorities. Discipline and lack of distractions aren’t enough if the thing we are focusing on does not match the priorities set out for us in the Bible. Before approaching a task it is appropriate to measure it against the standard of God’s priorities. Does it honor Him or dishonor Him? Does it reflect or work alongside Biblical teaching, or does it confuse the message of the Bible? A true Christian cannot put their whole heart behind something they know is not in line with the character of God, and therefore will not be able to exercise all their might in it.
These are just a couple of ways we can make sure we are working in the way God intends for His children to work so that our lives both glorify Him and benefit the world that He made.
