WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO WORK?

Imagine walking onto a job site early in the morning. The sun is barely up. Tools are scattered around. People are already busy, moving with purpose. But here is the real question: What is actually driving all that effort? Is it the clock? The paycheck? Or something deeper?

In the 1660s, Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to redesign St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. According to a well-known story, Wren once visited the construction site without identifying himself. He asked several workers what they were doing. One replied, “I am cutting a piece of stone.” Another said, “I am earning five shillings and two pence a day.” But one man lifted his eyes and said, “I am helping Christopher Wren build a magnificent cathedral to the glory of God.”

All three men were doing the same job. The difference was not in their hands, but in their hearts. One saw only stone. Another saw only wages. The third saw purpose.

So let me ask you, what do you see when you go to work?

The apostle Paul speaks directly to this question. In Ephesians 6:5–9, he reminds servants and masters alike that work is never just about human authority. He tells believers to obey “as to Christ,” not with eye-service or people-pleasing, but from the heart. Why? Because the Lord sees every act of faithfulness, whether a person is a slave or free. The workplace may have an earthly boss, but heaven has the real one.

Paul reinforces this same truth in simple, unforgettable words: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). That covers everything, does it not? Not just preaching, teaching, or praying, but sweeping floors, filing papers, fixing engines, answering phones, and caring for customers.

Think of work like laying bricks. One brick by itself doesn’t look impressive, but laid faithfully, day after day, those bricks become a strong building. In the same way, everyday acts of honest labor become a testament when they are offered to God. People may never hear a sermon from us, but they will watch how we work. They will notice integrity, patience, and effort. And through those things, God can be glorified.

Of course, wages and benefits matter. Scripture never denies that providing for one’s family is good and necessary, but money is a poor master. It can motivate for a while, but it never satisfies the soul. When work is done only for a paycheck, burnout comes quickly. When work is done for the Lord, even hard days carry meaning.

Jesus said it plainly in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Notice whose glory is the goal. Not ours. Not our employer’s. God’s.

Here is the comforting promise that closes the circle. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Nothing done for God is wasted. No unseen effort is forgotten. No faithful act is ignored.

So whether you are building houses, teaching students, driving trucks, caring for patients, or raising children, remember this. You are not just cutting stone. You are not just earning a wage. You are building something far greater.

Let us never forget to live our lives for God, on the job and off. When we work with heaven in mind, ordinary labor becomes holy service, and God is glorified through lives that understand who they are really working for.