Today’s devotion may sound like a contradiction to yesterday’s, which was entitled “Doing God’s Work.” Make no mistake about it, we are to do God’s work and do it well, but we cannot get caught up in the work. Some of us lose sight of the fact that work cannot save us. We spend our time doing the work but never experience growth in our spiritual lives. We become discouraged when people don’t praise us for the work we have done. God wants us to do good work, but our motives must be right. Doing God’s work is crucial to our relationship with Him. He must be first in our lives, regardless of the work that we are trying to accomplish. In Proverbs 21:5, we find these words:

“Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.”

The writer speaks about the need to plan for hard work, but he also warns against taking shortcuts. He gives sound advice in Proverbs 21:20, saying, “The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.” When you get a chance, read this entire chapter.. No matter how much work we do, it will not save us. We should not let the work we do be the center of our lives. We should make God the center of our lives, then by working hard and staying humble, the work that we do will please Him.